HARRY POTTER AND THE QUEST TO REWRITE HISTORY
by Dynamic Duo09
Summary: Depressed by the death of so large a number of loved ones in the battle against the dark lord, Harry and Hermione decides to embark on a daring voyage, beyond all barriers of space and time, to stop Voldemort from ever arising... Will They succeed?
1. Prolouge

**HARRY POTTER AND THE QUEST TO REWRITE HISTORY**

**Disclaimer : Not ours….unfortunately!**

**A/N : THIS IS A STORY BY TWO! :D **

**PROLOUGE**

Sirius ducked Bellatrix's jet of red light: he was laughing at her.

"Come on, you can do better than that!" he yelled, his voice echoing around the cavernous room.

The second jet of light hit him squarely on the chest. The laughter had not quite died from his face, but his eyes widened in shock. It seemed to take Sirius an age to fall: his body curved in a graceful arc as he sank backwards through the ragged veil hanging from the arch. Harry saw the look of mingled fear and surprise on his godfather's wasted, once-handsome face as he fell through the ancient doorway and disappeared behind the veil, which fluttered for a moment as though in a high wind, then fell back into place. Harry heard Bellatrix Lestrange's triumphant scream, but knew it meant nothing - Sirius had only just fallen through the archway, he would reappear from the other side any second… But Sirius did not reappear.

"SIRIUS!"

Harry yelled.

"SIRIUS!"

He had reached near the dias, his breath coming in searing gasps. Sirius must be just behind the curtain, he, Harry, would pull him back out… But as he reached the ground and sprinted towards the veil, Lupin grabbed Harry around the chest, holding him back.

"There's nothing you can do, Harry -"

"Get him, save him, he's only just gone through!"

"- it's too late, Harry."

"We can still reach him -"

Harry struggled hard and viciously, but Lupin would not let go…

"There's nothing you can do, Harry… nothing… he's gone."

"He hasn't gone!" Harry yelled.

He did not believe it; he would not believe it; still he fought Lupin with every bit of strength he had. Lupin did not understand; people hid behind that curtain; Harry had heard them whispering the first time he had entered the room. Sirius was hiding, simply lurking out of sight.

"SIRIUS!" he bellowed. "SIRIUS!"

"He can't come back, Harry," said Lupin, his voice breaking as he struggled to contain Harry.

"He can't come back, because he's d-"

"HE - IS - NOT - DEAD!" roared Harry. "SIRIUS!"

There was movement going on around them, pointless bustling, the flashes of more spells. But one person remained in her place petrified. To her it was meaningless noise, the deflected curses flying past them did not matter, nothing mattered except that Lupin should stop pretending that Sirius - who was standing feet from them behind that old curtain - was not going to emerge at any moment, shaking back his dark hair, his mischievous grey eyes twinkling….. eager to re-enter the battle. As Lupin dragged Harry away from the dais., some part of her realized, even as Harry fought to break free from Lupin, that Sirius had never kept him waiting before… never kept her waiting before… Sirius had risked everything, always, to see Harry, to help him… if Sirius was not reappearing out of that archway when Harry was yelling for him as though his life depended on it, the only possible explanation was that he could not come back… that he really was.

"No…..No…He didn't…..no…."

Hermione kept shaking her head. Sirius was not dead…. He can't be. He promised he will not leave her alone; then why is he keeping her waiting….?

" Mione… You alright? " Ginny's voice cut like ice through her. Of course she wasn't alright. Her Sirius, her love…

"Sirius…."

" I know Mione….. Harry is distraught….. I can't imagine how hard it will be for him…." Ginny said sadly.

Everyone was worried about Harry. Know one knew what Sirius has been for her. She had no one. She was alone.

"Mione… Professor Lupin told to take you to atrium. Can you walk?"

Hermione nodded. Silent tears streaked through her cheeks. Ginny thought nothing of it. After all her best friends's godfather just died. They reached the atrium fairly quickly. It was in chaos. Ginny called for Remus and he came to their side.

" This portkey will take you to Hogwarts. Only one minute is there. Here catch it." He gave a piece of elf's head, part of the destroyed golden fountain, to Ginny. Then seeing Hermione crying..

"Its' ok Hermione. Harry is okay"

Harry is okay. Harry is okay. That words kept repeating in her head. Harry is okay. He is but I'm not. Hermione thought. I will never be ok.

Hermione numbly took the portkey Ginny offered. She felt the familiar pull in her navel and next thing she saw the magnificent castle that didn't seem welcoming anymore.

A/N : Please review….. that's one thing that keeps us going….. Hope you liked it!


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer : Not ours… **

_**Chapter – 1**_

**Memories of Sirius**

"He's really gone..." sighed Hermione dejectedly. The fire in her sitting room burned with a fervor but those in her eyes had long since lost it's zeal She was sitting facing the fire burning in the fireplace of her house, a grey ring in her finger. It was the vacation after her O., but she cared about it no more, for, what she could achieve, could never replace what she had lost. No one, not even Harry and Ron, knew her bonds with Sirius Black, Harry's Godfather. She glanced at the grey ring, one which once was cut so smoothly that there wasn't one part of it which she did not adore, but now, was a grim reminder of the past, and images filled her already clouded mind….

There was Sirius, on top of buckbeak, right after she and Harry rescued from the tower, looking her right in the eye and saying, "You truly are the brightest witch of your age".

Then, there was this bubbly feeling inside... She didn't know what it was, as though a dementor's kiss, but bringing happiness rather than taking it away, but she enjoyed it all the same. As he flew off, she knew he had looked his way through her heart, and found a new corner, reserved only for him….

Though no one knew, she frequently wrote to him throughout the fourth year. And, even though he was on the run, his replies always found a safe route into her arms and through them, to her heart….

And, she got the pleasure of talking to him, face to face, through the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room, almost every week… One could call her very skillful, which she was, for no one knew about these, not even her closest friends, Ron and Harry….

Next year, they met each other many times, after the meetings of the Order of the Phoenix at Grimmauld Place, Sirius's home. Each time, Hermione would employ an improved form of 'Geminio', through which, she was able to duplicate herself, and sends her double to her friends. No one noticed it, for the atmosphere was thick, all this talk about the Dark Lord was enough to distract anyone. As each day passed, the bonds between Hermione and Sirius grew stronger, and this pulled their hearts closer. Then, the constant meetings over the fireplace of the common room were no more a desire, but more a necessity. Neither one could sleep while the other was awake. Their souls were so close that they could feel each other breathe…

Then, the meetings of the order were put off for a few weeks due to the attack on Arthur Weasley. But, during the Christmas of 1997, as Mr. Weasley had recovered, a celebration was organized. After the celebration, Sirius and Hermione met in the family room of the Blacks. Hermione was caught totally off-guard, when Sirius knelt on one knee, pulled out a small treasure chest shaped box from the side pocket of his magnificent velvet jacket, faced it towards Hermione, whose expression suggested that she couldn't apprehend the scenes unfolding, slowly opened it to reveal a shiny emerald ring, which immediately reflected the light from the bulb into Hermione's face, which was already bright as the sun as waves of happiness gushed back and forth through it…

"Hermione, would you…"

"Yes!"

"Wait! You have to let me finish!"

"Oh! Okay, it's just that I am so excited."

"I know… So, Hermione, would you…." Sirius looked Hermione straight in the eye and saw her pupils widening,

"…. Marry me?" He said without breaking eye contact.

This time, there was no sudden answer from Hermione. Still looking into Hermione's eyes, Sirius's right eyebrow, slowly but steadily, rose.

"Yes… I will…" She said, as she extended her right hand.

Sirius took the ring from the box meticulously, deposited the box back into his jacket's side pocket, gently took hold of her extended hand, Hermione split her fingers, Sirius inserted the still-shining emerald ring into her ring finger…. Then, both were locked in an eternal kiss.

All un-tarnished Black family faces looked on, their successor, who, had blackened their reputation by being placed in Gryffindor, had now pledged his love to another Gryffindor…. Their two hearts, coming closer and closer for all these months, had finally been united. Now, nothing but death himself could separate them….

But Alas! Death did indeed break them apart. When Sirius got the information that his bride-to-be and his godson had fallen into the hands of the death eaters, he had to go save them. He was relieved to see them alive when he and the order reached the department of mysteries. He felt much pleasure in dueling enemies in their company… But, suddenly a rush of pain,

"_No… Not…. Now…. So…. Much… unfinished…_" Then, darkness….

As Sirius fell through the veil, Hermione's heart sank. She screamed, but no voice came out. She felt a lump in her throat and a thorn in her heart… She saw Harry run after Bellatrix, her mind urged her feet to follow him, but, her feet, as though put under a 'Petrificus Totalus' charm, didn't budge. She had no idea what to do. A shearing pain developed in her head. She just stood there, motionless, still. But, who could console her? Who knew? She felt pity at her own chaos.

"_No, No one must know_", she thought, holding her ring, which had instantly turned grey and gloomy, to her heart. Then, mustering all her courage, she began to tend the injuries of her compatriots, trying hard not to let a tear roll down her cheeks or her lips to move apart….

"Gone, just gone…." Murmured Hermione, returning to 'the now' and 'the here', as the tears that she had, for a long time, prevented; filled her eyes… One tear of such sadness was enough to put out the fire that burned with a fiery glow in front of her….

A/N : We were disappointed wen we didn't get any reviews….. U must tell us how to improve ourselves… Please review…..

To those who follow us….. Thanks!


	3. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Never been ours. :D

**Chapter-2**

**A sudden change of plans**

Moon was shining in all its glory across the courtyard of her bedroom. Her home felt strange to her. She had forgotten the feel of being away from magic world. It was not safe for her to be in the muggle world when war was raging on. But this summer Hermione adamantly refused when Prof. Dumbledore suggested they spent the summer in Grimmauld Place and surprisingly he had agreed. Hermione had told it was due to her parents but the sad twinkle in his eyes made her wonder whether he knew about their affair at all. It would be no surprise. That man knew everything.

Hermione was roused from her musings by a loud tap in the window. She constantly received mails from her friends. Ron was recovering. He was badly injured from the ministry. Bellatrix had used the cruciatus curse on him quite recklessly. But he was getting better. Hermione had become fast friends with Luna. Though the girl seemed a little eccentric, Hermione through her letters have come to appreciate the girl's shrewd intelligence and perceptiveness. After all she IS a Ravenclaw. Neville seemed pretty brainy when it came to Herbology. His letters always contained long narratives on the new plants he had discovered.

Harry was totally another matter. At first when Hermione came out of her grieving, she had chastised herself for being selfish and not thinking how much Sirius's death would have affected Harry. After all he was the only family Harry had. She had sent many letters to Harry from there on. But no reply ever came. Hermione asked Ron and Ginny about it. But they too didn't get any. Mrs Weasley was truly worried. As was other order members who were close to Harry. But Dumbledore told them to give Harry a little space. Hermione agreed with it but she too was worried.

So it came as a fair surprise when she saw Hedwig hooting at her impatiently. She quickly got up from the chair she was sitting, dropped the book she was reading nearby and went to open the window. Hedwig gracefully swept in and rested in Hermione's shoulder. Hermione started stroking her. Then she gingerly took the letter of Hedwig's leg and pried it open.

_Mia,_

_Prof. Dumbledore wants to see us ASP. He have arranged Remus to take us to Hogwarts. But at first we need to get to Grimmauld Place. It seems apparitition is too risky. So we are going to floo from Grimmauld Place. We both will come to get you tomorrow morning. Be ready._

_Harry._

_P.S : We are spending rest of holidays at Hogwarts. Pack your trunk. _

The hand that stroked Hedwig froze. Hermione stared at the parchment dumbstruck. Just when she was finally happy Harry had sent at least one letter, it came to this. She was just recovering. She didn't want to go there yet. She was not ready. She can't go. To Grimmauld Place.

Instinctively Hermione felt her ring and that one feel made her remember all the things she had tried to subdue. All the things she was sure she will never forget. All those things she positively believed, she would not experience again. Memories assaulted Hermione. She remembered the way her stomach had always flipped when he smiled at her. The way his smile made everything seem much more beautiful. The way his bark-like laughter was music to her ears. The way he leaned forward attentively when she was in lecture mode. The way they had passionately argued over house elves rights. The way her lips had tingled when he kissed her. The way their bodies were perfect for each other. The way his eyes had lit up when she promised forever. But most importantly she remembered the way he had loved her. The way he had broken her outer bossy shell to reveal the light beneath. The way he promised no matter what he would be there for her…

But now? All of it had gone. Only memories of her once wonderful relationship remained. She angrily wiped the tears. No she wouldn't cry. She will remain strong. She knew Sirius wouldn't want her grieving over him like there was no tomorrow. That was one thing he made her promise. Even if he die in the war she should live on. She should help Harry to move on. Harry.

It was then Hermione looked at the letter clearly. It was absolutely un-harryish. There wasn't even a 'dear' . It looked awfully formal. It didn't seem like a letter to a best friend. No. Harry is still grieving. Of course he will. Sirius was the nearest thing he had for a family. They had so little time together. _Like us_ a voice whispered in the back of her mind but Hermione ignored it. It was time for fulfilling Sirius's last wish. To be there for Harry and she will be damned if her fear made her chicken out.

With this in mind, Hermione replied affirmatively to the letter. Then she started the tedious process of cleaning up her room and packing her trunk. It was finally dawn when she finished every thing. Now the most difficult thing. Confront her parents. They had been disapproving when Hermione had mentioned Voldemort was back. They didn't want her to go back. And the subsequent quarrel resulted in Hermione becoming oddly formal with her parents. She now dreaded what they will say if they knew she is going back even before summer hols were over. But before talking to her parents, she needed to have a shower.

After the shower, Hermione caught the sight of her in the bathroom mirror. Even now she couldn't believe how much change had come in her. She was no longer the bushy buck toothed bossy girl of first year. It was amazing what a little confidence could do to ones identity. She had changed and it all started with the Yule ball. Instead of the mousy brown bushy hair Hermione now sported lascivious chocolate brown curls that hung below her waist. In wizarding world most wore their hair short. But not Hermione. Hers was long and thick, something that made other girls reek with jealousy. Her eyes were a deep golden brown that turned to liquid gold when she was overrode with emotion. Her red ruby lips nested in a very innocent looking chiseled heart shape. Her body had undergone sudden growth spurts and she had filled out in all the right places. Gone was the over-excited teenager. Now in her place resided a calm confident _woman_ exuding power. But if one was careful enough to observe, the underlying sorrow, pain and fatigue was palpable.

Hermione putted on a tight fitting jeans and long sleeve white shirts. Then she donned the traditional wizarding robes and started dragging her trunk downstairs.

" Mione, dear, where are you off to? School doesn't start for another four weeks right?"

" Mum, Prof. Dumbledore wants to see me. And before you ask, I don't know why…"

" But….."

" Mum, you know its war out there and you also very well know I'm going to fight no matter what. So please refrain from asking me to say. I will go."

" Go where?" Hugo Granger asked. He had just entered the kitchen.

" I'm going back to Hogwarts dad"

" You mean like now?"

" Yes. Prof. Dumbledore wants to see me and NO, I don't know why"

" But…"

" No buts dad…."

Precisely then, the door bell rang. Hermione went and opened the door and was greeted by the sight of a very tired, a very unkempt Harry.

" Harry what….?" Hermione was speechless. This was not her Harry. It can't be. He positively looked dead. His eyes looked hollow. His hair was long and dirty. His dress was baggy. He even had sprouted a beard.

" Mia, all set?." Even his sound was flat…dead.

Hermione was too shocked to answer. So she just nodded.

" Ok then… we could go." Harry took out a plump red feather that looked suspiciously familiar.

" Harry where is Remus? And what is that?"

" Ah! There is a slight change of plans. We are not going to Grimmauld Place but directly portkeying to Dumbledore's office. This is fawkes feather. It will be our portkey." All this was delievered in a single monotone.

Harry held out the feather for Hermione to take. And when she did he went to tap it with his wand. But Hermione stopped him.

"Harry wait….! You….you alright?"

He looked at her and raised an eyebrow as if to say ' Do I look alright?" but then it was replaced by a mask of indifference.

" Harry, about Sirius, I know how you feel….." Hermione began uncertainly but stopped when she saw the look in his face. The mask of indifference slipped away giving way to raw pain. Then it was replaced by cold fury.

" Do you?" Harry all but spat at her and then without another word tapped the feather with his wand.

A/N : R&R


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter – 3**

**A new hope dawns**

In the darkness stood the Hogwarts castle, as though enjoying the quietness which is so rare in the school days... In a low flash, Harry and Hermione fell on the way outside the huge castle gates.

"Why did we land outside the Castle?" Asked Harry, who was clearly not expecting to land on the dirt.

"Each moment, dark forces try to penetrate the castle walls…" said a drab, long voice.

Harry and Hermione looked directly at the dark figure, whose shape and features were vague in the dark background. But, the voice was unmistakable; Harry had heard it for five years. As they walked nearer to him, the figure of Severus Snape became more visible.

"…And, the protection of the castle has been hiked up, No teleportation into the castle walls." completed Snape.

"Why are you here during the vacation?" Asked Harry, not liking the welcome he has received.

Snape was quick to notice the pure anger and hatred burning in Harry's eyes. He had no intention to add wood to this fire, but, surprisingly, he knew what it would be like to be alone, he had not been unaware of such situations…

"The Castle needs all the protection, potter. As the new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher, I think I'll fill in that role perfectly…" muttered Snape as he started walking towards the castle.

"WHAT? You and Defense against the Dark arts? I don't believe it!" roared Harry.

"It's not important now; the Headmaster wants you at his room immediately! Follow me then..."

Harry and Hermione looked at each other, then, Hermione started walking. She was followed by Harry, who was apparently a bit confused with this relatively 'nice' snape.

During what seemed to be an eternity, Harry noticed Snape having stealthy glances at him. He knew that Snape was looking at the expressions on Harry's face, but said or showed nothing. But, these glances made his foggy mind feel like a thunderstorm, just chaos everywhere…

Hermione wasn't feeling any better either. In a way, her condition was worse than Harry's, because of the secrecy of her bond with Sirius. She had an immense presence of mind, because even in this riptide of emotions, she never let anything out. She just focused on the castle, drawing closer and closer with each step….

After what was fifteen minutes for Snape and an eternity for Harry, they entered the headmaster's room.

"Here they are headmaster." Announced Snape, and the face of Albus Dumbledore looked up from his desk.

Before him, stood a very disturbed Hermione and a Blank faced Harry. But he was no healthy man either; he was looking paler than ever, tiredness was clearly showing on his wrinkled face.

Harry hadn't seen Dumbledore so tired. He guessed that Dumbledore must have been engaging himself in something serious during the past few days and that he called them here to help him.

"Thank you for your time Severus, now you may leave." Snape raised his right eyebrow, showing discontent in not being included in the would-be discussion, then turned and walked out. Before Harry or Hermione could say anything, Dumbledore spoke:

"I have called you here to give you a very important job, that is, if you are willing to accept it." Then, he looked at them both.

"Just as I thought!" Harry thought, "He does want us to help him in his current efforts." A smile appeared on Dumbledore's face, as if he had just heard what Harry had thought.

"But first, I would like to entrust you with a very powerful secret." He looked at them again. Both faces showed doubt.

"A secret so powerful, so well kept, that I had to go to great lengths to possess it…"

This only increased the suspicion on the face on Harry and Hermione.

"… A secret that can change the course of Destiny…" Dumbledore Paused.

"… A secret that concerns you two!"

"What is it sir?" Burst out Harry, who was a bit too anxious.

"Well, it is that, you, Harry Potter, are the successor of Godgric Gryffindor and Helga Hufflepuff!"

"WHAT!" The look on Harry's face showed a great amount of surprise.

"And you Hermione," Dumbledore moved on, as though he had expected this burst of emotion, "you are the successor of Rovena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin!"

"Wow!" Hermione's face showed doubt rather than surprise, "How come that's true? My parents are Muggles, professor!"

"No, they're not. They are just squibs! I trust you know that there are other Grangers in the wizarding world?" Dumbledore inquired with satisfaction.

"Yes! But, if I am their successor, How come I was sorted to Gryffindor?"

Her suspicion was evident through her tone.

"My dear girl, the sorting hat sorts on the basis of desire and destiny, rather than your heritage. It was destined that you and Harry would be friends. Same was the case with Harry here; he was sorted to Gryffindor, because he asked the hat to do so!" Said Dumbledore; with a little smile which was well hidden by his magnificent long beard.

The next few minutes passed in total silence. Harry and Hermione were too stunned to move, and Dumbledore, who was apparently quite happy to let the surprise set in, had turned to his desk.

"And what is the job that you would like us to do, Sir?" Hermione asked finally.

"Yes, about that…" Dumbledore turned, facing them again.

"This ongoing war with the dark has caused so many casualties, that I have grown tired of it. And I am quite sure that you two are too!"

Harry's head slumped. Hermione's brow twitched, but she immediately brought it down. Dumbledore glanced at Harry, but went on to look at Hermione a bit longer. The same doubt that had occurred to Hermione hours ago now seemed no more a doubt. She was sure that Dumbledore did know everything.

"How does he manage to know EVERYTHING?" This was more a confusion than a doubt.

"…I have thought long and hard about this," Continued Dumbledore, "You two being the successors of the most powerful wizards and all, I've decided to send you back in Time!" Saying so, he looked at their faces, eager to see their reaction.

"This night keeps getting weirder and weirder!" Hermione thought.

"Back in time? To which year sir?" Asked Harry, who had the habit of doing before thinking.

"To 1940." Harry was going to ask why, but Dumbledore, as though he had anticipated this, said before he could speak. "You will be sent to Hogwarts, where you will study, but, in Tom Riddle's batch. Your goal will be to prevent him from walking down the dark path."

This proposal made Harry think. "That's a great plan, if we can prevent Lord Voldemort from ever rising, this war would never occur. Sirius, Mom and Dad would be alive today!" A new spark was ignited inside Harry, thought small doubts about their journey still remained…

"Sir, I don't understand…" Voiced Harry, but Dumbledore interrupted him again.

"Your doubts will be cleared in due time. For the next one month, you will be staying here. As the successors of the founders, you have some very unique powers and abilities. You will be working on improving them, and I will assist you." Dumbledore sighed. "I trust that's enough secrets for one day, now, off you go to your dormitories. Your possessions would be waiting for you there. And, we start your training first thing tomorrow. Good night then." Dumbledore turned back to his desk.

Harry and Hermione also turned and started walking. Their minds, still foggy with doubts, were more hopeful than before. The hope of ending this war igniting this new found hope…

**A/N** : We are so sorry…. We didn't mean to be this late. But we had our school fest and some really important project work and was really busy with them. Sorry for updating so late. We promise. Next time wont be so long.

Hope two chapters make up for the time.

Please,please review. We really appreciate it. You know we cant correct ourselves without someone telling whats wrong. We will also consider ideas if you have them.

By the way **^hpPy NeW yEaR^**


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter – 4**

**The Bond Rebuilt**

"Harry….." Hermione called tentatively from the common room.

" A minute, Hermione.."

She flinched at the frostiness in his voice. She couldn't understand what his sudden change of mind was about. The last day, before going to bed, he even had told good night to her. But now… Also Harry had never called her by full name if he wasn't particularly angry or happy OR serious. She was sure it was not because he was happy because of his ice cold voice. Panic flooded her mind thinking about the plausible reason.

"Sit"

Hermione jumped. She hadn't heard him coming. She slowly took seat in the couch near fireplace and studied Harry. His face bore tell tale signs of not sleeping. But other than the weariness his face was carefully blank. But his eyes, his eyes, frightened her. It was blazing with suppressed fury.

" What is it Harry?" Hermione asked carefully.

He looked at her as if seeing a stranger. From the thoughtful look on his face, she knew he was cataloging her reaction. She felt a sudden drop in temperature. Harry took a deep breath and asked

" What was going between you and…and…" while he was struggling with his words, Hermione felt a cold blanket of fear enveloping her.

"…..and Sirius?"

Harry looked at her shrewdly. She at first blanched. Then a parade of emotions crossed her face. At first raw pain then despair, helplessness, confusion, anger, acceptance and finally resignation.

" I don't know what you mean."

" Hermione, DON'T LIE TO ME. I saw you…. I heard you…. Yesterday, I couldn't sleep. I was in the commonroom. And then, then you started screaming. And I thought you were UNDER CRUTIATUS CURSE. ". He shouted at her.

" Harry it was nothing… I just had a nightmare."

"NIGHTMARE? JUST A NIGHTMARE? FOR GOD'S SAKE HERMIONE….. YOU WERE SCREAMING FOR SIRIUS! EVEN I AM NOT THAT SAD OVER MY GODFATHER. His voice suddenly softened. "You were sobbing Mia, asking him not to leave you…. Why? Just tell the truth Mia…."

" Harry I…"

"I'm sorry Mia, I didn't know you two were friends…" Harry softly said.

Hermione's head was reeling. She didn't know what to do or say. So she ran. Ran away from Harry who thought Sirius and her were just friends, ran away from the pain she so carefully suppressed, ran away from the truth that he won't come back. How can she explain to Harry that Sirius wasn't just her friend but her everything, her life, her love? And even if she told him all that would he ever understand? Won't he hate her? Won't he hate Sirius? No….. She couldn't do that to him nor to Sirius's memories. She couldn't and wouldn't loose her best friend too.

"Mia….. Mia…. Wake up…. Mia"

Harry had found Hermione asleep in the astronomy tower. Her face was tear stained. She had dark circles under her eyes. But nevertheless she was sleeping. She wasn't thrashing in her bedspread. She wasn't screaming like her soul was ripped out. There wasn't the raw pain that tore _his _heart out, in her face.

" Harry…?"

Hermione tried to clear her head. Her vision was foggy. She was awfully tired and drowsy.

" You loved him…. Didn't you?"

That cleared her vision. Her brain went over drive. She sat up so fast that her neck creaked. Fear clotted her face. It was a fear of loosing Harry, of relieving everything, being the vessel for Harry's hate. After all her careful planning, after all her repeated practice of keeping her face blank, she crumbled. She started hyperventilating.

" Calm down Mione… I don't hate you….. Why! I'm not even angry with you!"

Hermione took deep breaths. She tried to slow down her racing heart.

" You…..you are….not?" Hermione asked disbelievingly.

" No…. I'm not." Harry replied calmly.

" But….but…"

" Hermione…." His voice was very soft. " I wouldn't want to hurt you more. I have seen what Sirius was to you….. atleast a little through your nightmare. Of course I'm sad. Sad that neither of you trusted me enough to tell me."

" Harry…. We wanted to….. but… "

" I know."

Harry tried to slowly take Hermione in his arms. But at the first indication that he wanted to hug her, she threw herself upon him and started sobbing. Harry tenderly stroked her hair and held her while she cried. His own eyes were swimming with tears. He had finally found someone who could understand his pain like their own.

They didn't know how much time had passed. Even after their tears were dried they held to each other. they had finally found the closure they had lacked. By mutual decision they both withdrew from each other. No words were exchanged. There was no need for them. They trudged back to Gryffindor's common room. When they reached there, they hugged each other once more and went back to their respective dormitories. After a long time, they both slept peacefully for the first time in months.

Hermione woke early the next morning. She sighed as she remembered the last night's events. She was feeling much better this day. She quickly got up and after showering dressed. Then she went back to the common room and doubled back when she saw Harry sitting there, already dressed, and reading a book.

" what? Are you the only one who can get up early and read?" Harry asked laughing at her surprised face.

Hermione couldn't keep the tears from falling. Harry suddenly stopped laughing when he saw Hermione was crying. His face was suddenly tense. Seeing this Hermione vainly tried to stop her tears. She smiled a watery smile at him.

" I forgot how beautiful was it to hear you laugh"

Harry released the breath he didn't know he was holding.

"It's nice to see you crying, too." Harry replied sarcastically.

Hermione laughed.

"Oh! Harry…..". Hermione went and hugged Harry.

Harry instead of hugging her back, started tickling her. Hermione started squealing. Tears of mirth flowed from her eyes.

" Harry! Stop…..Harry stop… please…."

Harry laughed and stopped. He then took her in her arms.

" I missed this. " Hermione whispered.

" Me too…"

They both stood there like that for a few minutes. Basking in the happiness their renowned friendship gave.

" Harry….. " Hermione called softly.

" hmm?" Harry murmured. Hermione slowly extracted herself from his arms and looked up at him.

" how did you know I loved Sirius?" Hermione asked carefully.

" I didn't"

" Then how?" Hermione asked surprised.

" after you ran…" Hermione winced at this. Harry smiled sheepishly at her.

"Go on…"

" Well, after you left, I got a letter."

" Letter?"

" Yes letter. Anyway…."

" Who sent you a letter?"

" Mia….. Let me finish, please!" Harry sighed exasperatedly.

" Oops! "

Harry shook his head at her impatience.

" I will give you the letter. A minute."

Harry took out his wand and summoned a letter written in a dark green parchment. He gave it to Hermione. She swiftly opened the letter and started reading.

_** Are you utterly foolish? Can't you see the girl had suffered enough? You are her best friend for God's sake. Are you such an imbecile that you can't see her pain. That girl loved him and he died. And now you are going and shouting at her? How will it feel to her if you, her best friend and brother in all but blood, shunned her while she needed you? You told every other person who tried to console you that THEY didn't know how you feel and now you are shouting away the ONLY ONE person who could have helped you? You are so imprudent. Now what are you waiting for, go and find her boy! She needs you. YOU need HER.**_

" I don't know who wrote that. There was no signature."

Hermione was not listening to Harry talk. She knew this handwriting. She had seen for five years. The familiar, spidery scrawl. She had seen it in her potions assignment every year. Though always seemed criticizing, she had studied to read the veiled compliments in them long ago.But how in the world he knew about her and Sirius? Dumbledore was one thing….. but him?

" Earth to Hermione…. Come in Hermione..."Harry was waving his hand infront of her face.

" uh! What?" Hermione blinked stupidly.

" you looked out for a second." Harry said curiously.

For some reason, Hermione didn't want to tell Harry about her new found knowledge. So she replied

" just thinking".

" Any way Dumbledore flooed earlier. He wants to meet us as soon as we are ready. Shall we go?"

" Yeah…" Hermione said, absentmindedly.

" lets have breakfast first." Harry suggested hopefully.

" Sure!" Hermione laughed.

They had a superb breakfast from the kitchens. Dobby was bubbling with happiness seeing them. Winky was better too. All other elves stayed away. They hadn't forgiven Hermione for trying to free them. Hermione was a little hurt. But what with Harry talking non-stop about their heritage she didn't have time to spare. Both of them were surprised, Hermione more than Harry. Harry simply told her ' I always knew you were special' when she voiced her surprise. They also discussed about time travelling. Harry was ecstatic. ('I could Finally get back at him!' )

Even though they both seemed happy enough, both of them were still sad underneath. They both knew Sirius would be happy only if they are, where ever he is. So they tried. And soon it was time for them to meet headmaster. They walked towards the stone gargoyle, silently, with anticipation. They told the password and gargoyle sprung upwards. It was time.

**A/N :** So? Did you like it? You don't think Harry was too accepting ri8? Do I want to include more about Sirius? May be a talk between them? Tell me!

**Catlyn Imagines** : Thank you! We will try to update soon. :D

**darkxangelxreaderx & sweetgal3** : Thank you! :)

Please Review!


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter – 5**

**The Chamber of Awakening**

The ever pale face of Dumbledore greeted them in his office.

"Ah! Finally, you have come! What took you so long?"

"Well, we were having a scrumptious breakfast, sir!" Said Hermione smiling

"And, it was the best we've had in months." Added Harry, a smile beaming on his face too.

"Well! It seems that we are back in shape! I am glad, so, about your schedule for today…"

"What will we be training today, sir?" Asked Harry with a touch of anxiousness.

"Yes, about that… We won't be training today."

"WHAT?" Both their voices echoed.

"Well, as the successors of the founders, you have some very unique powers, now, if you would, Harry, read out this parchment, will you?" He took out a seemingly antiquated parchment, which was most apparently well preserved and well tied up as though no one had ever opened it, and handed it out to Harry. At the moment of Harry's touch, it unraveled itself. Harry took a moment to just look at the overview of the parchment and then began to read it.

"_To our heirs,_

_ If you are reading this, you must already know who you are. You must know that the bloodline of the founders is the most powerful in the wizarding world. You have inherited unimaginable power, and the ability to control it. You two, if possess the right co-ordination, will be unstoppable and I do stress co-ordination, and if you lack it, then Alas, all this power goes in vain. At this point, all those powers lay dormant in you. So, all four of us have agreed that this massive power cannot be awakened by claim of blood alone. You must prove yourself worthy of being able to possess them. Only then, will you gain complete access to your maximum potential. For all this time, a chamber has been laying dormant in the castle, just like you. After you finish reading this, that chamber, The Chamber of Awakening, will be activated. Your trial has just begun! LOCATE THE CHAMBER OF AWAKENING BEFORE THE NEXT SUNRISE; ELSE IT WILL STAY DORMANT TO YOUR TOUCH AND WAIT FOR THOSE WORTHY ENOUGH. Now, we wish you the greatest of luck._

_ The Founders"_

Harry's eyes lay stuck on 'The Chamber of Awakening'. When he finally looked, he saw Hermione with her mouth wide open, and even Dumbledore's face showed surprise. Harry just thought that he had never seen Dumbledore surprised. "Well, that 'No one knows everything' saying goes for Dumbledore too, I suppose." After moments of silence, Hermione, again the first to recollect herself, asked,

"Sir, haven't you read this before? I know that it must have been here for at least two days."

"No, Hermione." Started Dumbledore, Hermione suddenly realized that the headmaster had called her by her first name, for the first time.

"As you saw, the parchment was wrapped tight, I couldn't unravel it, and believe me, I did try! So, I thought it must be flesh activated and so, I asked Harry to read it, well, I was right, only you or Harry could open it."

"Sir, should we be on our way, looking for the chamber of awakening?" Harry, hungry for less talk and more action, asked.

"Oh My! Yes, we should be! Let's get to it then." And then Dumbledore walked towards the exit, followed by Harry and Hermione.

"Sir, would this chamber of awakening have anything to do with the chamber of secrets?" Speculated Hermione.

"I doubt it Hermione…" Started Dumbledore. Hermione noted him calling her by her first name again, although she was beginning to like being called that way.

"… The chamber of secrets was designed by Salazar Slytherin alone and it was used to 'purge the school of the unworthy'. So, I don't think the other founders would have known about this. If they did, they wouldn't allow it. This chamber of Awakening must be something completely different." Dumbledore had put his point across. This point seemed to be perfect; this however, rang a bell in Hermione's mind.

"Then, this entrance must be somewhere common to all four houses, where they would meet in harmony, where their flags are all represented…"

"The Great Hall!" Shouted Harry, who was merely listening till then, letting the geniuses do the thinking.

"Yes, YES, let's hurry!" An ecstatic Hermione rushed on, followed by Harry and Dumbledore in quick strides.

In a few minutes, they were standing at the door, facing the empty tables, unusually silent. The ceiling showed a clear blue sky, without a speck of white.

"All right! Cover the right side Harry! Look for anything that signifies the unity of the four houses, make it thorough!" So, Hermione proceeded through the left and Harry right. Dumbledore moved through the centre to his chair. He sat down, and began to survey the grand room with his blue eyes.

Twenty minutes passed, Harry and Hermione had met up in the front, their sweep of the room revealing nothing.

"Sir, have you got anything?" Asked Hermione.

"No, I've been sitting in this very chair for many past years. I must say that such an object doesn't occur to me in this room." Said Dumbledore, his half-moon spectacles glinting.

As Harry raised his eyes to look at the Headmaster, he noticed it. His eyes widened, he knew he had found it.

"Oh my God! There it is Hermione! Behind the headmaster's chair, on the wall, do you see it?" Hermione quickly raised her eyes, above the Headmaster's chair, on the wall.

"Yes!" A wave of excitement swept over her. There, on the wall, was the crest of Hogwarts, showing the four houses in one magnificent representation. A smile flashed on Dumbledore's face.

"I think the 'H' in the middle is the key, the symbols in the crest meet at the 'H'!" Said Harry.

"It's strange, isn't it? I feel that 'H' stands for more than just Hogwarts, may be it was meant for us. You know, Harry, Hermione, Hope are all seemed to be represented by that single letter." Hermione, who was very good at speculating, said.

"Yeah! May be they knew, the founders! May be it was for us all along!"

"Harry, levitate me up there!"

"Sure, here you go, Wingardium Leviosa!"

Hermione rose slowly and steadily, in synchronization with the movement of Harry's wand. Harry stopped her directly in front of the crest. She slowly extended her hand, and touched its center, the 'H', which was the meeting point of the symbols of the four houses.

Few seconds passed, but nothing happened.

"Hmm… It's not flesh activated or anything. I was sure that was going to work! Hold on…" She felt something different about the 'H', it seemed less solid. She knocked on the symbols of the four houses, and then, the 'H'. It made a different sound than the others. She thought for a while, the yelled to Harry:

"Harry, bring me down, quick!" Harry obeyed. After she was on the ground, she pointed her wand directly at the center of the crest and yelled,

"Depulso!" There was a metallic sound; the 'H' was now a bit caved in than the rest of the crest.

"Harry, I think we have to do this together, use Depulso and push back that 'H'." Now, Harry too raised his wand and they yelled in unison,

"Depulso!" This time, the metallic sound was more vivid; it seemed like latches and bolts moving. Suddenly, the stone floor next to headmaster's chair went into the stone piece that the chair was placed on. Dumbledore was a bit startled.

Harry and Hermione rushed and peeped inside the newly formed hole on the floor, there were stairs visible through it.

"Come on, let's go, what are we waiting for?" Asked Dumbledore, now getting up from his chair.

The winding stony staircase led them downwards for more than five minutes. After some hundred steps or so, they were now facing a huge metal door.

"I think this is it! But, how do we get it open?" Hermione was much cheerful.

"Maybe if we use Depulso together again…"

"Let's try it."

Same as before, they cast Depulso, the flashing red jets of light erupted form their wands and hit the metal door. But, the door didn't budge.

"Now what?" Harry wanted for ideas.

"Let me think…" Hermione sunk into her mind, "What am I missing here?" and then, like the morning sun's golden rays, it came to her!

"Harry, do you remember what the parchment said? It said '_ELSE IT WILL STAY DORMANT TO YOUR TOUCH'!_ To our touch!"

"Yeah! Let's do it!"

They both pressed their palms on the metal door. For a moment, it felt as though their hands were electrocuted, then, with a large creaking sound, the metal door rose upwards, revealing total darkness. Harry and Hermione were about to step in, when suddenly, Dumbledore, whose was a mere spectator till then, spoke:

"Well done you two, I always knew you would achieve it. Unfortunately, this is as far as I can go. Only you two can enter the chamber. Remember this; this test is to find out the qualities in you. Whatever this throws at you, always be yourself and I know you will make it past this. All the very best, go, claim your powers!" Dumbledore waved at them. Harry and Hermione waved back.

"Thank you, sir"

And then, they both looked forward and took the step inside. Dumbledore watched the darkness inside the room swallowing them…

A/N : Hey….. We are deeply disappointed. Not even one review! Is our chap that bad? May be we should stop… Atleast tell us that!


	7. Chapter 6

Disclaimer : Unfortunately J.K still doesn't give us ownership. :(

**A/N : SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY**

**We Are soooo sorry. There was no time for updating. And I'm sad to say we can't promise to update frequently too. We are in our last year and its just very hectic right now. Even this chap was done without much thought. Sorry if its not enough.**

**And pls review… **

**CHAPTER 6**

**TROUBLES AND TEMPTATIONS**

The door closed with a resounding snap. The room was plunged in darkness. It was eerie in a uncomfortable way. It was like feeling danger around the corner. Hermione moved in the darkness and in a subconscious move for self protection, felt for Harry's hand. Harry squeezed it back reassuringly.

"Where are we?" Hermione whispered.

"I don't knowwwwwww"

As soon as Harry started talking the ground under them shook and started dropping. Suddenly anxious, Hermione tried to hold on to Harry's hand, but it was impossible. A force seemed determined to pull them apart. The last thing Hermione remembered before losing consciousness was Harry's beseeching face.

Hermione slowly opened her eyes. It took time for her to adjust to the dim lighting of the chamber she had fallen in. She warily stood up and looked around. The chamber was not very big. It had only one way to go. A long corridor stood before her. The ceiling of the chamber was dark. So Hermione supposed she fell through that.

It was then she remembered Harry. Frantically, looking around she was horrified to know Harry was not with her. Confused and frightened she prayed for Harry's safety. He was all she had. Then with a determined step, Hermione started walking towards the corridor. It looked like a never ending road to her. The darkness of it threatened to overwhelm her. I'm a Griffindor. I can do this. She told herself and started forwards.

When she stepped in to the corridor, lights suddenly flared to life. Hermione gasped at the amazing art work around her. The walls of the corridor were painted beautifully. A plush maroon carpet of the softest material lay in its floor. Chandeliers of various colours and sizes hung from the ceiling.

She stepped closer to the walls to see the drawings better. It depicted the early years when Hogwarts was built. The four founders were laying the foundation together. Each of their faces held happiness and pride in doing so. Griffindor was laying the bricks and mortar to where Hufflepuff directed him. Rowena and Salazar were strengthening the foundation using various spells. Underneath every picture, there seemed writing in some ancient language that she could not read. Yet somehow understood it was telling the story of Hogwarts. It urged her to go forwards, giving a boost to her confidence. Even though the pictures were not magical, they seemed so real that Hermione could only gaze at it in awe.

" Ouch!" Hermione rubbed her forehead and looked forwards to see she had reached the end of the corridor. A doorway at the end of the hall marked the conclusion of her journey. It was a plain wooden door that had only a very small carving of an eagle and snake entwined in the knob. The door seemed so out of place in such a magnificent corridor yet somehow Hermione knew she was expected to go through it.

The hall that opened amazed her. It was an enormous circular chamber that rose five stories. Its transparent, domed ceiling towered 120 feet at its central peak. The ash coloured glass was embedded with a dark shiny black mesh the screen filtered what seemed to be an uncanny looking dark blue light into delicate laceworks across the walls. A lot many chandeliers of black crystal with bright blue flames hung from the ceiling.

The rooms sloping sides arched broadly at the top and then became almost vertical as they approached eyelevel. Then they became subtly translucent and graduated to a opaque black as they reached the floor- a shimmering expanse of polished black tile that shone with an eerie luster, giving one the unsettling sensation that the floor was transparent. Black ice.

After the epic adventure delineated in the wall, Hermione expected something equally intimidating when she looked around. What she found instead was an old witch sitting comfortably in a chair in a mostly empty room. Her hands were folded in her lap, holding something wrapped in cloth. The woman hummed, seeming very content. And when saying old, it meant she was _old_. Wizards and witches could live until their early 100s, and this woman had clearly crossed that mark. Her pale skin was a maze of wrinkles, and her gray hair was wispy and thin. She smiled when she saw Hermione and nodded toward an empty chair. A small table sat beside it with a glass pitcher of water.

Hermione glanced around her surroundings. There were no other furnishings, though there was a plain door opposite the one she had come through. She sat down and then turned toward the old woman.

"Hello,' said Hermione, trying to keep her voice strong. "I'm Hermione Granger."

The woman's small smile grew, showing her yellowed teeth. One of her teeth was missing. "Always such manners in your family," She croaked. "Most people come in here and demand we get down to business. But I remember your grandfather. He was polite during his test as well."

"You knew my grandfather?" exclaimed Hermione. He had died when she was very, very young. Then, she picked up another meaning in the woman's words. "He ran for being an heir too?'

The woman nodded. "Passed all his tests. I think he would have won too, if he hadn't withdrawn at the last moment. "

Hermione had never heard any of this. "Why'd my grandfather withdraw?"

"Because you had just been born. Frederick decided he needed to devote his energy to his fledgling family, instead of a

nation."

Hermione could understand this. How many Dragomirs were there back then? Her grandfather, her father, and her mother,

but only by marriage. Eric Dragomir hadn't had any brothers or sisters. Hermione knew little about her grandfather, but in his place, she

decided that she too would have rather spent time with her son and grandson, instead of shouldering the huge responsibility that was wizarding world.

Hermione's mind had wandered, and the old woman was watching her carefully. "Is . . . this the test?" asked Hermione, once the silence had gone on too long. "Is it, like, an interview?"

The old woman shook her head. "No. It's this." She unwrapped the object in her lap. It was a cup—a chalice or a goblet. She was not sure which. But it was beautiful, made of silver that seemed to glow with its own light. Blood-red rubies were scattered along the sides, glittering with each turn of the cup. The woman regarded it fondly.

"Over a thousand years old, and it still gleams." She took the pitcher and filled the chalice with water while Hermione processedthe words. A thousand years? She was no metal expert, but even she knew silver should have tarnished in that time. The woman held out the cup to Hermione.

"Drink from it. And when you want to stop, say 'stop' And remember it will only stop when you say so.."

Hermione reached for the cup, more confused than ever by the odd instructions. What was she supposed to stop? Drinking? As soon as her fingers touched the metal, she understood. Well, kind of. A tingle ran through her, one she knew well.

"This is charmed," she said.

The old woman nodded. "Infused with all four elements and a spell long since forgotten."

' A spell that have been forgotten, and it put her on edge. Elemental charms had different effects. Earth charms were often tied with minor compulsion spells. The combination of all four in a object or ward provided a unified blast of life that blocked the unwanted. But spells . . . well, she was quickly learning that spells and charms covered a wide range of unpredictable effects. The water no doubt activated the spell, but Hermione had a feeling that spell was going to be the key player. Even though it was the power that burned in her blood, it still scared her. The spell woven into this cup was complex, far beyond her skills, and she feared what it would do. The old woman stared unblinkingly.

Hermione hesitated only a moment more. She drank.

The world faded away, then rematerialized into something completely different. She and I both recognized what this was: a spell induced dream.

She no longer stood in the plain room. She was outdoors, wind whipping her long hair in front of her face. She brushed it aside as best she could. Other people stood around her, all of them in black, and she soon recognized the Hogwart's church and graveyard.

Hermione herself wore black, along with a long wool coat to protect against the chill. They were gathered around a grave, and a priest stood near it, his robes of office offering the only color on that gray day.

Hermione took a few steps over, trying to see whose name was on the tombstone. What she discovered shocked her to the core. Instead of one name, she could see two.

SIRIUS BLACK

RONALD WEASLY

The names were carved into the granite in regal, elaborate font. Below the names was the star of battle, signifying that they had been killed in one. The priest spoke customary funeral words, giving them the blessings of a religion she wasn't sure they believed in.

When he finished, Albus took his place. Lauding the deceased's achievements was also normal at a wizarding funeral—and Dumbledore had plenty to say about mine. Had they been there, they would have been moved to tears. He concluded by describing their last battle, how they had died defending Hermione. The news was a slap in the face to her. She suddenly became aware of a horrible empty feeling in her chest, like part of her was gone. Hermione understood it, that terrible, lonely ache. She was missing something she'd never even known she'd had. Tears brimmed in her eyes.

_This is a dream_, she told herself. _That__'__s all. _But she'd never had a dream like this.

When the mourners dispersed from the graveyard, Hermione felt a hand touch her shoulder. Harry. She threw herself gratefully into his arms, trying hard to hold back sobs. He felt real and solid. Safe.

"How did this happen?" she asked. "How could it have happened?"

Harry released her, his crystal-blue eyes more serious and sorrowful she I'd ever seen.

"You know how. Those deatheaters were trying to kill you. They sacrificed themself to save you."

Hermione had no memory of this, but it didn't matter.

"I can't . . . I can't believe this is happening."

That agonizing emptiness grew within her.

"I have more bad news," said Harry.

She stared in astonishment. "How could this get any worse?"

"I'm leaving"

"Leaving . . . what? Hogwatrs?"

"Yes. Leaving everything." The sadness on his face grew. "Leaving you."

Her jaw nearly dropped. "What . . . what's wrong? What did I do?"

"Nothing." He squeezed her hand and let it go. "I love you. I'll always love you. You are best friend and sister anyone could hope for But you are who you are. You're a muggleborn. If I stay with you, there'll always be something taking you away . . . I'd just end up killing you too. You need to rebuild your life. I'm not the one you need in your life."

"Of course you are! You are the _only _one! The only one I want to build my future with. How can you even believe death eaters will leave me alone if you left?"

"You say that now, but just wait. There are better choices. You'll know that once I'm gone."

"You don't know that." she argued.

"Yeah," he scoffed, "and I'd be a big asset to you too—the chosen ones best friend"

"I don't care about any of that, and you know it!" She clutched at his shirt, forcing him to look at her. " I don't want you to leave. And if you really want to go, take me with you. I want you to be part of my life no matter how dangerous it is. None of this makes sense. Are you scared? Is that it? Are you scared that I will always remind me of….of…of _them?"_

He averted his eyes. "Lets just say its not easy for me right now."

She shook him. "I don't believe you! You're not afraid of anything! You never back down."

"I'm backing down now." He gently removed himself from her. "I really do love you. That's why I'm doing this. Its for the best."

"But you can't . . ." Hermione gestured toward my grave, but he was already walking away. "You can't! they are gone. If you're gone too, there'll be no one . . ."

But Harry _was _gone, disappearing into fog that hadn't been there minutes ago. Hermione was left with only my tombstone for company. And for the first time in her life, she was really and truly alone. She had felt alone when her family deserted her after fifth year, but Harry and Ron had been her anchor, always at her back, protecting her. When Sirius had come along, he too had kept the loneliness away, filling her heart with love.

But now . . . now they were all gone. Her family was gone. That hole inside threatened to consume her, and it was more than just the loss of the loved ones. Being alone is a terrible, terrible thing. There's no one to run to, no one to confide in, no one who cares what happens to you. Shed been alone in her childhood, before coming to Hogwarts, but that was nothing like this. Nothing like it at all.

Staring around, she wished she could go sink into their grave and end her torment. No . . . wait. She really could end it. _Say _"_stop,_" the old woman had said. That was all it took to stop this pain. This was a dream, right? True, it was more realistic and all consuming than any she'd ever faced, but in the end, all dreamers woke up. One word and this would become a fading nightmare.

Staring around at the empty Court, she almost said the word. But . . . did she want to end things? She'd vowed to fight through these trials. Would she give up over a dream? A dream about being alone? It seemed like such a minor thing, but that cold truth hit her again: _I'__v__e never been alone. _She didn't know if she could carry on by herself, but then, she realized that if this wasn't a dream—and dear God, did it feel real—there was no magic "stop" in real life. If she couldn't deal with loneliness in a dream, she never would be able to while waking. And as much as it scared her, she decided she would not back down from this. Something urged her toward the fog, and she walked toward it—alone.

The fog should have led her into the church's garden. Instead, the world rematerialized and she found herself in front of the fireplace in Grimmauld Place.

" Ah! You're awake at last!" Her heart skipped a beat hearing that voice again, smelling that special pine tree cologne.

" Sirius?" She was lying curled up his chest.

" yes, sweetheart." Sirius smiled his special crooked smile at her.

"I…. I… What happened? Why did I sleep? "

Sirius appeared a little surprised. Then a mischievous twinkle appeared in his eyes.

" Well…..it seems I tired out you a bit" Sirius looked down and waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Hermione followed his gaze and blushed a hot red when she saw her dresses askew.

" Oh…"

" Want a repeat to clear your head, love?"

"What? No…. I mean…. Where is every one?" Hermione looked around and asked. It was weird to see Grimmauld Place empty since war was still brewing.

" What do you mean, Mione? You know, they all went out to give us a little alone time"

Her heartbeat increased. " Alone time?"

He looked at her puzzled.

" Yeah… since we couldn't go for a honeymoon due to post war reconstruction, Harry agreed to spent some days in burrow…. Don't you remember?"

" I….."

Hermione suddenly noticed Grimmauld Place didn't look the same anymore. It was not so dreary. Instead it was warm and inviting. She moved towards a mantle piece full of pictures. There were so many. And some were of her wedding. She walking down the aisle holding the hand of her father. Sirius standing in a altar, love shining in his eyes, Remus and Harry smiling happily. Ginny and Luna in bridesmaid dresses. Harry and Ginny in another. Ron and Luna laughing and dancing in other. But the one that caught her eyes most were, a photo with all of them smiling a bit sadly, in front of a brand new Hogwarts with a banner saying it was the first anniversary of the last battle, one they had won.

" We won the war?"

Now Sirius was definitely worried.

" Baby? You alright?"

Suddenly the words of the old lady came back in her mind.

"_Drink from it. And when you want to stop, say __'__stop' And remember it will only stop when you say so..__" __only stop when you say so._

So this was her test. To show she can resist temptation. She had passed one. She had overcome her greatest fear – of being alone. Now she must overcome her greatest wish. A world without war, a world where everyone accepted her and Sirius readily. A world were she could be happy without being afraid.

_I should say stop. _She thought. But did she want to? Did she want to go back to a place full of death and misery, somewhere she couldn't be happy? Couldn't see Sirius anymore? But then again, did she want to live in a fantasy knowing it was not true? Always wondering about a what if?

Her decision made, she turned towards Sirius. He was smiling at her lovingly but still looking a little puzzled. She smiled back at him sadly. His expression changed to one of concern. He stepped forwards but before he could say anything, Hermione kissed him. It was full of love and hope. It was awash with heart- breaking tenderness. It was good bye.

" _Stop."_

When the world put itself back together, there was no Sirius. There was an empty room with an old woman and a silver chalice.

Hermione looked around. Her heart was racing, and her sense of time was off. The things she'd seen had lasted an eternity.

Yet, simultaneously, it felt like only a couple seconds had passed since she and the old woman had conversed.

"What . . . what was that?" asked Hermione. Her mouth was dry, and the water sounded good now . . . but the chalice was empty.

"Your fear, your temptation," said the old woman, eyes twinkling. "Your greatest fear and temptation, laid out neatly in a row."

Hermione placed the chalice on the table with shaking hands. "It was awful. It was dream, but it . . . it wasn't anything I've seen before. It invaded my mind, rifling through it. It was so real. There were times I believed it was real."

"But you didn't stop it."

Hermione frowned, thinking of how close she had come. "No."

The old woman smiled and said nothing."Am I . . . am I done?" asked Hermione, confused. "Can I go?"

The old woman nodded. Hermione stood and glanced between the two doors, the one she'd entered through and the plain one in the back. Still in shock, Hermione automatically turned toward the door she'd come through. Her steps were halted when the old woman spoke again and pointed toward the back of the room.

"No. That's for those who fail. You go out this door."

Hermione turned and approached a plain door that hadn't been there before. It looked like it led outdoors, which was probably just as well. Peace and quiet. She felt like she should say something to her companion but didn't know what. So, she simply turned the knob and stepped outside . . .

And fell through darkness once again.

A/N : Did you like it? Was Hermione any good? A faster chapter for 10 reviews! :D


	8. Chapter 7

A/N : We got 836 hits for last chap! :D

**Chapter – 7**

**A Whole New Dimension**

Harry opens his eyes into a world of darkness.

"Where Am I?"

He looked around, but couldn't see much, except for a little dot of light coming from the direction behind him. It looks like he had fallen into some kind of cave or something similar. He had definitely landed in mud, and this darkness that surrounded him made his assumptions all point to the possibility of being in a cave.

"How can there be a cave under Hogwarts?"

He thought. Then, it suddenly struck him, Where was Hermione? He looked around and walked around a few steps, there was no sign of her.

"Hermione, Hermione?" But there was no reply.

"Great, now I am separated from her too, I hope there is no need to answer any tricky questions in this test."

Harry realized how he relied heavily on Hermione to find a solution out of nothing.

"She might have gone ahead of me", he turned round and headed towards that little dot of light, which seemed very far….

After what seemed to be half an hour, he finally made it out of the cave. Outside, the sun shone brightly. Harry immediately closed his eyes as he was exposed to glaring light, after seeing nothing but darkness so far. As his eyes adjusted to the landscape and lighting, what came before him was truly astonishing. In front of him was a lush green meadow, with the horizon filled with lush green trees. Everywhere, green dominated. The sky was clear and the air was fresh. This was very welcoming to Harry, as he had to cope with the grey skies and smoky atmosphere that came into dominance with the rise of the Dark Lord. Harry moved forward, hoping to find Hermione, or any wizard for that matter. The joy in the atmosphere was really filtering into him, yes; he liked this place very much. As he climbed over a small hill, he could see a wizard and a witch, who were sitting on a sheet, with a picnic basket beside them. Harry could not identify them, as they were facing opposite to him. He was happy to finally see someone, and sprinted toward them.

"Excuse me, can you please tell me where I am?"

Harry asked the wizard, who still hadn't faced him till then. As the wizard turned around, Harry's eyes widened, his mouth became wide open and he couldn't believe that he was seeing this. By then, the witch had also turned around; Harry went more aghast after looking at her. Yes, those emerald eyes were unmistakable; he was facing James and Lilly potter!

"What Harry? Well, we are in the meadows of Shrewsbury, we came here for a picnic, remember?" James answered, although he was a little caught off-guard by Harry's odd question.

"Mom, Dad! You're here, you are actually here!" Yelled Harry exuberantly.

"What? Of course we're here hun, what's gotten into you?" Lilly was a bit concerned now.

"You sure you're alright Harry? You said you'd just go for a walk and you come back all dazed, everything fine?"

James came closer and patted him on the back. Harry was in a state of trauma, but things began to set in now. He was somewhere completely different, somewhere his parents hadn't been killed, somewhere, where there was no sign of war… He liked it though, but one question itched in his lips to come out.

"So, what happened to Lord Voldemort?"

"Lord Who?" Lilly was puzzled.

"Who's that? One of your friends or someone?" James broke into a smile.

"There's no Lord Voldemort? You know, he studied at Hogwarts 50 years ago, his real name was Tom Riddle."

"Tom Riddle? Oh! This is a terrible joke, son. Tommy studied with me and you already knew that." James' smile vanished.

"What? Tom studied with you? You do mean Tom Marvolo Riddle, don't you?"

"Yes, Tom Marvolo Riddle, he was quite a student, brilliant in Defense against the Dark arts and potions, but always chose to be isolated, I don't know why…"

This new piece of interesting information literally sent Harry tumbling. He had to sort this mess up. So, he went to a nearby tree and started to put together the pieces of the puzzle.

"Ok, so I fell through a hole, ended up in a cave, found my parents… But ended up in a world where Tom Riddle studied with James Potter! Hmm… I wonder that's why… Yes! Lord Voldemort hasn't come to power yet in this world! The war hasn't started yet! So this is what the test is? Win the war here and then go over to my world with good practice? That would be strange…"

Harry's line of thoughts was broken when he saw several hooded figures come out of nowhere and surround his parents.

"Death Eaters! So, it has begun!"

He drew out his wand and broke into a sprint, approaching his parents.

"I have already lost you once; I will NOT let this happen again!"

"STUPEFY!" Yelled Harry as he knocked down a death eater and found his way into the circle of death eaters and joined up with his parents.

"RICTUSEMPRA! Who are these people? And why are they attacking us?" James managed to ask in between casting his spell.

"They are death eaters, EXPELLIARMUS, they're bad news, and we have to get rid of them really quickly."

Jets of green and red lights shot into the air. As the three dueled on, the sky had turned grey, and there was a certain chill in the air. The three were able to lay down most of their opposition, until there were only two death eaters left. Seeing that the odds were suddenly turned against them, the death eaters found no reason why they should keep fighting. They turned around, and were ready to flee.

"No! You're not getting away that easily!" Shouted Harry and he gave chase to the fleeing evil doers.

"STUPEFY!" Harry's well aimed spell knocked down one of them, but the other kept running. Harry kept sending stunning curses one after the other, but none seemed to hit the mark. By then, the death eater vanished into the thick forest ahead.

"Damn! I let him get away. At least Voldemort will get the message now that the Potters are not playing around!"

Harry turned round, by then, he had lost sight of his parents. The chill in the air has deepened now, it was like it was snowing, freezing cold.

"What's with this weather?" Harry looked up, and the color went straight out of his face. There were about four Dementors, One was in front, and one was in the back, like they were an escort to the middle two.

Harry took a close look at the middle two dementors, looked like they were carrying something. While he was busy taking down the fleeing death eaters, the dementors had managed to kidnap his parents.

"NO! NO! EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

The patronus broke out of Harry's wand, but the dementors were too far way to be affected by it. Harry was devastated, the patronus died away. He had no idea what to do. He just ran after them at full speed. He was heading full speed over the hill that was beyond the picnic site. He could see the village that was beyond the hill. It looked so tiny. The dementors had gone in that same direction.

The view from the hill was astonishing, but he had little time to stare at the beauty of it. He sprinted on, towards the tiny village which lay in the shadow of a huge tower. As his pace quickened, he got on a pathway through which many people were walking by. He did not notice any one of them, as he ran past them. He hadn't the slightest idea where he was going, yet, going forward was better than standing still.

"Harry?" A familiar voice made him stop in his tracks.

He turned round, to see the always pale face of Sirius Black, whose head was inclined in a slight way as to indicate that he needed an explanation to what Harry was up to.

"Sirius! Where have you been?"

"Why, your father forgot to buy pumpkin juice, Harry! Can you imagine a picnic without pumpkin juice? I just couldn't sit there, James was always this irresponsible. So, I came back to buy some pumpkin juice."

"Never mind the pumpkin juice, Mom and Dad were taken by some dementors, they were headed in this direction, and I followed them here… We have no time to lose..."

"What? Did you say dementors? I saw them… I could have stopped them! They went to that tower, I saw them!" Finished Sirius, pointing to the tall black structure on the opposite side of the town.

It seemed to be just a huge black box from this far away.

"Come on! We have to go."

Harry had already started sprinting when he said these, and Sirius quickly followed. They ran through as much as three streets, but who was keeping count? As they were getting closer, it became clear that the tower wasn't actually a part of the town. It seemed to be beyond a forest, which they were entering into. The fallen leaves and rough terrain did not hinder their pace at all. Visibility was now becoming a serious concern, as it seemed to be getting darker and darker as they approached the tower.

The tower was in an opening at the heart of the forest. Now, only a thing line of trees stood between Harry and Sirius, and the tower. Harry was about to advance to the clearing, when Sirius pulled him back.

"Look on top of that tower, Harry. What the heck is that?" Harry looked to notice the dark skull and a serpent through it.

"No! It's the Dark mark!"

"Dark mark? What's it for?" Harry was about to answer Sirius, when his eyes suddenly fell on the two mangled bodies which were definitely not there a second ago.

"Mom? Dad?" Harry took a quick step forward and was going to accelerate, but Sirius's hand pulled him back on the shoulder again.

"Harry, it's no use, they're gone…"

"NO, THEY'RE NOT!"

"Harry, listen to me, it's probably a trap, someone obviously wants us to get to them."

"I DON'T CARE!" Harry broke free of Sirius's grasp and ran towards the bodies.

Sirius now had no other choice but to follow him. Harry knelt beside the bodies, yes; they were indeed those of Lily and James. Tears rolled down his cheeks.

"Harry? HARRY! Take your wand Harry, they're coming!"

Harry managed to look back, to see ten or so dementors advancing towards Sirius, who had moved so close to them, and so far away from him, just to give him the space he needed then. Harry took out his wand and advanced towards Sirius. But, five dementors descended from above and quickly surrounded him. Yes, he had to fight his way through again.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" He shouted.

But, something was wrong, his patronus did not burst out of his wand, but just a jet of white light flew through it and knocked out just the dementor in front of him. His mindset was not right at all, he just lost his parents again, how could he think happy thoughts? He tried it again and again, yet it was too weak to knock them all out…

"This is not working at all" Harry said to himself, as he clawed his way through the dementors one by one.

But, the number of dementors being knocked down was very little compared to the number of incoming dementors. Harry could see Sirius, he was having troubles as well, then, suddenly Sirius's wand flew out of his hand, one of the dementors had managed to do it. Defenseless, Sirius's life was now being sucked out of him by the dementor's kiss. This was very similar to the situation that he had faced two years ago.

"NO, SIRIUS!" As Harry screamed, his wand emitted a high intensity radiance, which knocked all dementors flat. Harry almost felt that his wand had done that on its own, because he had made no effort to unleash a spell. He sprinted to Sirius's side. He was very pale and weak.

"Harry… You... must… leave… Go… now; escape… while… you… can…"

"No, I am not leaving you…" His glasses had become wet again.

"Just… go…"

Sirius closed his eyes; his head rolled over to one side, Harry knew the inevitable had happened. His sobs were dissolved in the sound of the wind. Harry suddenly noticed, he had Goosebumps and the chill had returned. He looked up, to see nothing but black, yet it was squirming and moving, the dementors were stalking him, intend on having a little fun with their prey.

"So, this is it…" Harry did not know whether he had the strength to fend all of them off.

"I have failed… They've died… Now, what is left to fight for?"

He lowered his head as his eyes fell on Sirius once again. He had something clenched in his fist. He bent down and opened it, it was a beautiful yellow butterfly, and it was still alive.

"He was protecting it?"

Suddenly it dawned on him; Sirius was holding this little butterfly in his palm even while fighting the dementors. That's why he fell so easily. He gave his life to protect this little guy!

"Yes, I do have something to fight for! I have an entire planet, and all its living beings to fight for!"

He let go of the butterfly, which flew up and sat on his forehead, as if to say thank you. As soon as the butterfly touched his head, something snapped inside of Harry, and a sense of power and confidence swelled up in him, and something was unleashed inside of him and he could very well feel it. He looked up, and the dementors were still circling above him. And not a moment too soon, all of them swooped down on him.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM…!" Harry yelled, and a glowing sphere of bright white light sprouted from his wand.

But, instead of heading towards the dementors, it moved backwards, and went straight into Harry's chest, and into his heart. Suddenly, Harry underwent a change and all his arteries and veins emitted light, there were no pupils in his eyes, it was pure white radiance, the ancient technique of 'Patronising' was complete, Harry was one with his Patronus! He pushed his right hand forward, and a wave of white light pushed away from him, knocking most of the dementors out. But, the dementors kept on coming, apparently, there were as many dementors as to cover the entire sky… Harry kept on producing wave after wave, knocking uncountable numbers of dementors out, but the dementors never seemed to stop. A sudden surge of dementors covered him and even the white light which his body was emitting was blocked.

"No, I won't give up now; not now… haaaaa…."

An exceptionally powerful patronus wave burst out of him, knocking all dementors to far distances. Harry felt drained, he was on his knees, and did not have the strength to stand up.

"At least I got them, doesn't matter what happens to me now…" Harry panted, this technique was certainly taking its toll on Harry, and he had used up his energy.

Suddenly, a cold wind swept past him, shaking him to the core. He mustered the strength to look up, and he saw a black cloud approaching…

"More dementors? I must get up…"

He tried bitterly to get up, shaking and groaning, he got on his two feet. The dementors had almost reached him. He raised his palm, trying to produce another patronus wave, but, there was nothing left in him… The light from his arteries grew dimmer and finally vanished, his pupils came back into visibility and he fell to the ground… And the dementors surrounded him…

Every light had disappeared; the scene was completely overhauled by darkness… Sheer darkness…

A/N: Liked it? Please review…. :D


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N: Definitively not ours. :P**

** Thnkzz for all those who reviewed, included us in fav and alert lists. :D**

**Chapter – 8**

**AWAKENED**

Hermione didn't know how long she was out but she was readily apparent of two things. Based on the cool damp air surrounding her, she was no longer in the 'test room' and her body felt weird. Stretching out her arm, she found that she no longer had hands at all. Turning her head slightly, her human mind was shocked to find a transparent blue tinged wing where her arm once was. A slight turn to the left found the same thing. Instinct seemed to take over and Hermione flapped both of her wings toward the ground, earning a slight upward lift. A few more trial and error sessions later she found herself flying up. She slowly glided down and saw that she was in an ancient chamber of some sort.

The chamber was made of cobble stones and had a dark yet comforting feeling to it. It was oval and there was something sparkling in its centre. Hermione slowly made her way up to it and was surprised to find a beautiful phoenix standing in front of a ornately carved mirror. As if hearing her approach it turned, looking directly at her and Hermione was amazed to find the familiar yet a bit darker emerald eyes gazing at her. The phoenix cocked his head and thrilled a note.

"Harry? " But her sound came out as a soft bark.

The phoenix thrilled once more and then seemed to remember something. He moved aside so that Hermione could look at the mirror. She slowly walked towards it, then, closed her eyes and opened them to find herself looking in the mirror. Her body was a gleaming snow white with a light golden tinge to it. Her eyes were a mix of blue, green and brown. They seemed to glow in the dim light. But the most beautiful feature of her body was her lush tails. Yes tails. She had nine. All of them were the exact colour of her body but towards the end they were a lovely blue. Guided by her instinct, she slowly swished her tails and was surprised to feel a cold draft heading out of her wings.

The phoenix thrilled indignantly. He was shivering.

"Oops, sorry Harry. I didn't know!." Yet once again it came as a soft though amused bark.

The phoenix opened his mouth and blew. Nothing happened.

"Hihi seems it doesn't work for you Harry."

Harry gave her an evil eye. Hermione looked at him bemusedly but then a frown creased her….. ah….face.

" I wonder what this is about?"

She slowly walked around the cave, and then turned around to see Harry priming his feathers. _I didn't know Harry was vain_. She thought amusedly.

"Crooooo" came an indignant hoot from Harry.

"What are hooting at me for? "

"I'm not priming!"

Hermione looked startled at Harry.

"Did you just talk in my mind?". She asked in a bark.

"Bloody hell Hermione! I can't understand barks"

"Harry; Harry, can you hear me?"

"Hermione?" Harry uttered, but out came the cry of a phoenix again…

"Harry, don't say it, just think."

Harry could not find the source of the sound, or did not understand why he had to think, but he decided to give it a try anyway.

"Hermione?" He thought.

"Yes!" Hermione's voice echoed.

He must be going mad. Or he wouldn't hear Hermione's voice in his mind.

"You are not mad Harry! I can hear you too…"

"What? How could you hear that?"

"I can hear your thoughts silly! And you can hear mine too, but only if you concentrate really hard."

"Yeah, right. So you don't have to be afraid!"

Ignoring the slight, "So what do you think happened?"

"I don't know. I woke up here. After that, suddenly you came out of nowhere."

"Hmmm….. I wonder…."

"How did we end up being a phoenix and mutated wolf?"

"Mutated wolf? I'm not a mutated wolf." Hermione answered annoyed.

"Well you certainly look mutated. What animal would have wings AND nine tails?"

"Kitsune of course."

"Still sound like a mutant…!"

"Of course not stupid. My animagus form, or that's what I think is this, is a Kitsune. It's a legendary creature just like phoenix. "

"You look like the pokemon ninetails" Harry said snickering.

"I'm not. Kitsune is a Chinese fox spirit believed to be mysterious, fascinating and mischievous. Its not a pokemon."

"I didn't know that. Anyway, how did you end up here?"

"I don't know. After the test…"

Suddenly Hermione stopped. She thought about all that she had gone through. She felt as if she was surrounded by the darkness. Feelings of fear and despair washed over her, leaving her shaking with thoughts of being completely helpless. She had never known till then how much afraid she was about being alone. It was terrible to know that there was a chance of being alone.

But that was not the worst. At least it felt like a nightmare. But then, when she was offered everything she ever wanted, the most wonderful dream, she couldn't take it. She was once again forcefully separated from Sirius. Fate has a awful way of making things desolate. Thinking about Sirius brought another tear to her eye. It slowly rolled down through her fur.

Hermione was brought up from her reverie buy a nudge from Harry.

"Don't cry" he mind-whispered, concern and despair shining through his eye.

Hermione smiled sadly at him.

"What happened in your test?" she asked fearing his answer.

Suddenly she was bombarded with memories of Harry. She felt his disbelief and happiness seeing his parents healthy and alive. She felt his anger at the deatheaters for trying to take them from him once more and then his intense despair and helplessness when dementors took them away. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw Sirius alive and happy, again. She unknowingly cried out seeing lily's and James's mutilated bodies. She shared Harry's grief over Sirius's death. And at last she admired his courage and determination, standing up to all those dementors.

By the end of both their memories, tears were falling down freely. It was like tearing open a particularly painful wound; again and again. Their happiness for winning the test was nothing compared to what they had to live with now. Both unknowingly wished for this never to have happened to them. All of a sudden, both of them started glowing. Slowly, they morphed in to their human bodies. As soon as they got their bearings, they hugged each other tightly, vowing silently to be there for each other, no matter what. Then they noticed a door that had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Both looked at each other and Hermione raised an eyebrow, in a silent question. Harry shrugged and took hold of her hand and walked towards the door.

The door opened to what seemed to be a very spacious room, paved with shining black marble, and with half of the walls covered in windows, through which a very bright light was piercing in. it highly contrasted to their `earlier atmosphere of a dreary cave. There were three crystal chandeliers on the ceiling, all of them in a perfect straight line. But what captured their attentions were the four smiling people, though one necessarily looked like a grimace, standing at the other end of the room.

" The founders " Hermione whispered.

"Took them long enough," came a snide voice from Salazar. Harry turned and was floored by what he saw. Standing there in all his glory was Salazar Slytherin. His face was handsome, and his eyes a deep seeded green a few shades darker than Harry's. He was clad in a forest green robe with silver and black trimming, the hood lifted over his head partially casting a shadow over his eyes.

"What are you gawking at boy," Slytherin snapped at Harry, causing Harry and Hermione to back away a bit in fear.

"Leave the boy alone," came a more reassuring voice from behind him, directly left from Slytherin. Harry turned around again and saw the lady Hufflepuff. She was slightly heavy set with golden hair tied in some sort of a twist. She was smiling affectionately at both of them.

This is bizarre. The founders can't be alive. Hermione thought desperately.

"No, we are not alive. We are merely memories, though a bit more advanced, preserved in this chamber. The founders have left us so that we could guide our heirs in the right path."

This answer to her thought came from Rowena Ravenclaw. She was very beautiful to look at. Not the drop-dead gorgeous look. She had a classical beauty to her. Her quiet confidence spoke of elegance. Her eyes were the colour of a calm ocean, calming their racing hearts.

_Much like how Hermione looks these days_. Harry thought with a start. Lady Ravenclaw smiled at Harry, hearing his thought.

"It's good to see you lot. Not many could have gone through what you have and still stand here with strength. " Came another deep voice from the tallest of the bunch. He was handsome enough with auburn hair that had streaks of blonde through it. He wore a robe of deep red that had golden trimming. Somehow it didn't clash with his hair.

"How…. What….." Harry stammered. What was someone supposed to say when the most powerful wizards and witches of ages stood before them?

They smiled at him pleasantly, well everyone else but Slytherin. He was scrutinizing Hermione and she was, from her posture, clearly uncomfortable with the attention.

"Do not be frightened of us, my dear. We mean no harm. "Helga told Harry gently.

Suddenly both of them felt invisible presences in their mind. It was similar to when Snape had used Legilimency on him, but different. Rather than the violated feelings that Snape brought forward, it was sort of reassuring, like a cool breeze on a hot summer day.

"So young yet suffered so much. They had been through much for one so young

yet there is a good mind here despite their difficulties. "Lady Ravenclaw intoned amazed.

"Both of them are loyal almost to a fault. They are ready to die for each other and more." Lady Hufflepuff said.

"His courage runs deep," Gryffindor continued, making his own assessment about Harry. "He has faced danger and he has faced it alone. When no one else believed him he stood firm and stayed by his ideals, loyal and true." Harry knew they were talking about the events of the previous year when everyone believed him to be liar.

"She feels the pain of loss," came Rowena's calm voice. "Both of them feels it deeply. His parents were taken from him long ago...and more he has cared for have died. Her love was left unfulfilled."

"She is fiercely ambitious and has definite streak of cunning and subtlety in her person. She recognizes, deep down in her heart, even if she has not admitted it to herself, that there is more to the world than the light and dark. She knows there are shades of gray. She herself is a shade of gray." Slytherin gave his bit reluctantly.

"We have judged your character. Your spirit. We are ready to render our verdicts, Helga, if you will begin."

Hermione didn't know what to think. This was going too fast for her liking. Harry turned to the shorter Hufflepuff, he being her heir and gazed into her strange yellow eyes. It was oddly soothing to him.

"Your loyal heart and quiet strength of character have joyed me greatly. I, Helga Hufflepuff, do hereby judge you as worthy to accept my ancestral line." Harry's eyes went wide with the notion. He had passed at least one of the Founder's tests.

"She has much to learn but her potential is far too great to ignore. She is studious and intelligent." she said, stroking her chin thoughtfully. "I Rowena Ravenclaw, do hereby judge you as worthy to accept my ancestral line." Hermione smiled happily, his mind swimming with possibilities.

"I, Godric Gryffindor, do hereby judge you as worthy to accept my ancestral line." Like a true Griffindor, it's founder without much ado, directly came to the subject.

Hermione turned towards Salazar. Her final test. He was silent for a minute. Then smiled reluctantly and said "I cannot find a flaw with her. She is a true Slytherin. Certainly not like the last one's to come before us. I, Salazar Slytherin, do hereby judge you as worthy to accept my ancestral line."

Harry and Hermione turned towards each other and smiled in relief. It was done. They can finally save the world or die trying.

"Harry James Potter, Hermione Jean granger" Godric Griffindor continued. "You have been judged worthy to receive the ancestral lines of all the Founders Four."

"In addition," Godric continued, "You shall be bestowed with three gifts each in total: One from each of your ancestor and one from us collectively to both of you." He looked at Hufflepuff, a gesture followed by Harry, who smiled at the elder woman.

"To you my heir I grant you the power of healing, so you can heal and protect those you care about"

"To you my heir," Ravenclaw began, "I grant you the gift of Empathy. It's a lost art in this era, yet you will be highly benefited from it."

"To you my heir I grant the power of teleportation. No ward or barrier can stop you from reaching you destination. "Griffindor continued.

"And to my heir," Slytherin continued, more than a hint of joy in his voice at the mayhem this was likely to cause "I grant you the gifts of tongues. You will speak the ancient tongues of the serpents, goblins, the tongues of the elves long since departed from this world, and many other races including all bio-life forces. Also I give you the power of plant manipulation. All plants will hence forth, remain as your friends."

Hermione and Harry stared dumbfound. God! This was overwhelming.

"In addition to this, you both have the gift of control, over your mind and emotions. Both of you, as witnessed earlier, have the power of Animagi and can talk telepathically to each other." Lady Ravenclaw told them.

"And now for our joint gift, here forth, your grief over the death of your loved one will be contained to the day he died. When you have moved on, the grief will too"

Hermione didn't know what to think of this. She didn't want Sirius, for they were surely talking about him, to become a memory to be remembered once a year. That was disrespecting him. Harry too was thinking in the same lines.

"No my dear, he is not ever going to be a memory in your mind. Your love is too deeply ingrained for that to happen." Lady Hufflepuff told Hermione gently."And Harry your godfather almost a father to you. You will never forget his love and affection, no matter what."

"Yes, this was given to you because your grief should not hinder your goal. You must save the wizarding world from ruins. That can be only done if you can properly focus on your quest. Besides our tests for you have painfully reopened the barely healed wounds in your mind. This is our way of apologizing." Lady Ravenclaw continued.

"Oh! Please stop being high and mighty. Just accept this. I have other works to do other than comforting two estranged teenagers." Salazar complained loudly earning frowns of disapproval from others that made him promptly shut up.

"Now, of the Founders, do you accept these gifts?" Griffindor finished.

Harry and Hermione looked at each other. they made a decision, wondering whether it would lead to greater regrets.

"I do," Harry and Hermione said together, muttering the only words they could.

"Very well...so mote it be." The four founders began to chant in an ancient language that both of them didn't understand, but the words rang through their ears, shaking them to their very magical core and soul.

Suddenly both of them felt absolutely light. They were surrounded by a blinding golden light. When the glow faded, they felt invigorated and strangely free in both mind and body. They turned towards the founders, only to find them slowly fading and becoming translucent. Each of the founders were smiling at them, even Salazar. Suddenly they vanished leaving behind a trail of whispers.

"Good luck" Godric Gryffindor's staid voice brushed past them.

"Make us proud" Lady Ravenclaw's said, in the ever calm voice.

"Don't bother us anymore" Salazar said, though it sounded more mischievous than snide.

"Tell him…." The last gentle coaxing voice of Lady Hufflepuff left Harry confused yet Hermione sighed dejectedly.

Then everything was silent. And abruptly they felt a lurching in their navels, similar to that of a portkey, but a lot more comfortable. Then they were standing before the same door they had come through. They reminisced the sequence of events, starting from Dumbledore's letter to this, that had lead to this.

Suddenly Hermione had a thought.

"You know Harry, Dumbledore called us here to train, right? First we thought it was for battling the approaching dark forces, but…"

"Yeah…. He wanted us to train to improve our new abilities!" Harry caught on.

"Wait! Does that mean he already knew we would pass?" Harry had another doubt which just popped up.

"No, he must've hoped so… Well, he was always four or five steps ahead of everyone…"

"Shouldn't we think about getting out of here now?"

"Yeah, let's go that way." Said Hermione, pointing to her right.

They walked in that direction, and surely enough, there was another huge metal door on the wall.

"Is this the same door that we came through?" Harry was ever so doubtful.

"Let's find out, shall we?"

They both pressed their palms on the metal door, and it swung open, revealing another flight of stairs, but these were also going down, rather than up.

"Harry, we are now leaving the chamber of awakening, we have been awakened!"

"Yes, sound's cool, doesn't it?" Harry answered dead-panned.

They followed the stairs, which lead to a small door. They opened it… And there they were, back at the great hall, facing the long dinner tables. They had just walked through the back wall of the great hall. In front of them, there was the headmaster's chair. They had entered through a hole at the left of the chair, and they had exited through a door to the right of the chair. The awakening cycle was now complete! From the chair, rose Albus Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling merrily.

"Aah! You're back. How did it go?"

"Very well Headmaster. We both passed!" Hermione spoke up.

"Just what I wanted to hear, my dear. Anyway you both must be so tired… Take rest today, and meet me at my office tomorrow, right after breakfast, what do you say?"

"Of course, sir. Whatever you say." They told him simultaneously.

Dumbledore walked away biding them good night, and both of them started towards the Gryffindor common room. Both of them were cherishing the moments in their test. Harry was happy to have something definite to work on and was vowing to save the wizarding world, at all costs. Hermione was thinking about the last words of Lady Hufflepuff. She didn't know what to say. But she was happy though. The weight of her grief finally was diminished. Now it was with wistfulness that she remembered, not with heart breaking sadness. It helped her a lot. When it was time for both of them to go to their separate dormitories, Harry turned and asked Hermione.

"Mia, do you know what Lady Hufflepuff meant?"

"I…. I do, Harry. I will tell you tomorrow."

Harry was disappointed but he knew Hermione had her reasons. So he simply nodded and hugged her.

"Goodnight, Mia"

"Good night, Harry" Hermione smiled at him and kissed his cheek. He turned and disappeared around the corner. She sighed deeply and climbed towards her dormitories, hoping Harry wouldn't take the news badly.

**A/N : Sorry for the delay. we both are in to our senior years and are really busy. hope you enjoy this chap. plsssssssss review. :)**


	10. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer :We don't own it!**

**Chapter – 9**

**Training Begins**

Harry groaned in his sleep before slowly opening his eyes. 'Wow! I am up earlier than usual.' He thought grouchily.

"_Darkness is waking up and while it does, blackness rubs off. On the horizon yellow rays of the sun claw their way upwards. Its warmth covers the grass, covers the leaves of every tree. Night has fled, but no one cares, because a new day is here."_

"What?" Harry wondered aloud. "Darkness waking up? Warmth covers the grass?"

"_Each__morning__sees some task begin, each evening sees it close; something attempted, something done, has earned a night's repose_."

"Ok…. I think I am going crazy! I'm hearing voices in my head! Wait…. Voices? Or maybe a voice?"

Harry stood up and went in to the common room. There, sitting by the fire, writing something was Hermione.

"Hermione! What the bloody hell are you doing, up so early?" Harry hollered from the door.

Hermione was taken aback. "Early Harry? It's five in the morning!"

"Exactly! Who wakes up's at five!"

Hermione smiled fondly at him. All this war and fighting evil dark lords often made her forget how young they were. Harry, for all intent and purpose was still just a teenage boy. Suddenly she was reminded of her other best friend. She was sad that Ron couldn't be part of their new daring adventure. Seeing the melancholy look on her face, Harry asked cautiously.

"Are you alright, Mia? You look sad"

"I was just thinking about Ron. It feels weird to do something without him with us"

"I know Mia, but think of it, if he has to train with us without any special powers of his own, how let down and maybe even a little jealous he would be? Besides he is still weak from Lestrange's curse"

On mentioning Lestrange, both of them stiffened. The over whelming grief that was usually present when talking about Sirius was curiously absent but there was still that burning hatred for his killer.

Hermione started doodling in corner. She suddenly felt shy in the face of Harry's probing eyes.

"What are you writing there, Mia?"

"Oh this…. It's just my journal. "

"That was your journal? Holy mother of Merlin! I can't believe you write your journal so….so…. ugh… I can't even find a word for it"

"Harry!" Hermione looked scandalized and hurt.

"I had nothing to do with that!" Harry immediately said.

"Nothing to do with what?"

"Ah… the reason you are angry with me?"

"Oh harry…." She smiled at him exasperatedly. He and Ron usually had a range of excuses that they always threw at her. Though, she was happy to know that there was something of him left, even after another tragedy.

"When did you read my journal?"

Harry visibly relaxed hearing the matter.

"Oh that…. I heard you"

"Heard me? You mean in your mind?"

"_Yes" _

Harry's mouth remained close yet she heard him as clearly as day.

"_Does that mean we can talk telepathically and read each other's mind accidently?"_

"_Yup I think so"_

Suddenly an image of a ring flew through his mind. It was so sudden that he blinked his eyes, wondering if it was real.

"_What was that?"_

Hermione flushed red.

"Um…um nothing!" she said quickly, too quickly.

Harry's eyes narrowed with suspicion. Suddenly he remembered something.

"Hey what did Helga meant about you needing to tell me something?"

"I…. that is…. Harry" Suddenly tears welled up in her eyes. Harry was bewildered by this turn of events. He was NOT good with crying women.

"Mia…. Mione what's wrong?"

Hermione tried controlling her tears. It was just still painful. But she decided that if Harry was to know about this it was going to be from her mouth, not accidently from her mind.

_Know what Hermione?_

_This,_

Hermione pulled at the chain hanging around her neck. Harry's eyes widened at the sight of the ring. It shined brightly in sunlight, the emerald casting a green glow over Hermione's sad, pain filled face. No boon was enough to erase a pain so deep ingrained.

"You were engaged." Harry whispered brokenly. It was not a question. He knew in his mind it was true.

"He wanted to ask you. He considers…. Considered you and Ron my legal guardians in the wizarding world." She smiled sadly at the memory.

"_Sirius….. Stop! Stop tickling me"_

"_Now you will think twice before blackmailing me with bat bogey!" Sirius said, smiling wolfishly down at her. Hermione mock pouted and swatted his shoulder._

"_You are such a boy."_

_Sirius caught her hand and gazed reverently down at the ring on her finger. It was made so that only both of them could see it. Hermione smiled fondly at him and caressed his cheeks_

"_I have never been so happy Sirius." she whispered at him._

_Suddenly Sirius's smiled vanished._

"_I just wish I could have asked Harry and Ron before proposing you. They are all you have in this wizarding world. For all intents and purpose, they might be even your legal guardians in wizarding world."_

"_Sirius…. They are my age!"_

"_Age is not a factor. They care for you. You are their sister in all but blood. Especially Harry. For Ron, Weasleys comes first. But for Harry you are the only family aside from me."_

"_One day we will tell them Sirius. When this war is over, when we are all free, we will tell them"_

_Sirius smiled at down at her. His eyes looked bright and happy. _

_He was happy._

Hermione was shaken up from her reverie when Harry's voice intruded her memory.

"You saw?"

"Yes Mia. You two really loved each other. Didn't you? I have never seen Sirius this happy before. You too. I just wish…."

Harry took her in a gentle hug. It was for her as well as him. They stayed like that for a few moments. It was silent except for merry crackling of fire.

It was almost seven when they turned up in the great hall. The house tables were removed in favor of a large round table. Dumbledore, Snape and McGonagall were seated and were having breakfast. Snape had a Daily Prophet in his hand abut Dumbledore and McGonagall were talking quietly. Dumbledore looked up when they entered.

"Harry my boy, and Hermione! Did you both sleep well?"

"Of course Prof Dumbledore" Harry replied.

"Good morning Headmaster, Prof McGonagall, Prof Snape." Hermione said. McGonagall smiled at her and Harry while Snape looked up enough to nod at her, ignoring Harry altogether. Harry, it seemed was happy with this turn of events.

"Come on dears, have breakfast. You have a long day ahead of you." Dumbledore told them jovially.

They ate their food discussing the current political atmosphere. Everything seemed grim after Voldemort's appearance in the ministry. When they finished eating, Dumbledore asked them to join him in his office.

"Now, Hermione, Harry, tell me about the powers you were granted yesterday."

So they did. Their three professors listened with rapt attention. They didn't talk about their tests. Just what happened afterwards. Dumbledore didn't ask them to reveal what happened downstairs. Even Snape seemed impressed with the extent of their powers.

"So you are telling me that Harry has the powers of healing and teleportation and Hermione have the powers of empathy and a gift of tongues and plant manipulation?"

"In addition to our animagus forms, mind magics and telepathy, yes sir" Hermione said.

"Ok then, we don't have time to delay. Professor McGonagall will assist you in your animagus transformations, and I will personally teach you legilimency and occlumency."

"What about others?" Harry asked.

"Professor Snape will help Hermione in her powers, since he himself is an elemental and Madame Pomfrey will help in your healing powers."

"What about Harry's teleportation abilities?" Hermione asked.

"I will teach him that" Professor Dumbledore replied.

"Also you will have physical defense classes with professor Snape."

"Why him?" Asked Harry disdainfully.

"I have been spying before you said your first words potter. I have to have some skills up my ace. And you will be pleased to know you will also have additional potions classes with me like every other classes you will have with other teachers'."

Harry looked angry and skeptical but before he could say anything, Hermione cut him off.

"Professor, not that am complaining, but why do we need to study all this, if we are to go back in time?"

"Hermione, never underestimate Tom. He is not so easy to snare. If you even have to grab his attention, you should be extraordinary. And that is why you will have these classes."

Hermione was satisfied with the answer. Harry still looked a bit grouch. But decided to say nothing. Dumbledore surveyed them over his half-moon spectacles.

"If you have nothing else to ask, you may accompany Prof Snape to the RoR. You need a good amount of exercise before you are ready to study anything. Good luck my dears."

Prof Snape stood up with a flourish, and without looking at both of them, started towards the door, his robes billowing behind him. Hermione and Harry jumped up and said good bye hastily to the other occupants of the room and scrambled to catch up with Snape.

McGonagall looked at them wearily and when the door closed turned towards Dumbledore.

"Albus, there is something you are hiding from them. I know tom. I have studied with him. Their unexplained appearance would be big enough to capture his attention. And they are a very formidable pair even now. Why do you want them to train for war? And I know that's what Severus is going to teach them."

"Minerva, I'm afraid they are just going from a war to another. Just like Voldemort has deatheaters in Hogwarts, _Grindelwald_ has his clan too. If he came to know some students have enrolled in the school, saying they have ran off because of him, he would want to know why they were lying. It is best to be prepared. Dumbledore's face shown how much this decision has pained and cost him. He sighed dejectedly.

"But Albus that is so wrong. You can't just send them off to fight another war when they also have to stop another dark lord from rising!"

"I have to Minerva. I have got no other choice."

"But they won't have any friends there, like they have here. No one to help them. They will be all alone."

"They will have each other and as you said Minerva, they are a very formidable pair."

**AN: Ok we are not even going to ask sorry! But reviews are appreciated :D**


	11. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer : Does not belong to us :/**

**Chapter 10**

**Protego Maxima**

Harry and Hermione struggled to keep up with Snape, and before they knew it, they were on the seventh floor facing the barren wall.

_Alone in the room with Snape! Gulp._

_Prof Snape, Harry._

Snape glared at them and quickly walked past the wall three times, as was the procedure. A dark shiny iron door materialized out of the wall. Something that lokked like Hogwarts crest was intricately engraved in it but before Hermnione could analyze it Snape headed towards it and wrenched the door open.

_Dark!_

Both of them thought together.

It took a moment to register, but the Room of Requirement had an aura unlike the time Harry had been in there training with Dumbledore's army. Gone were the cozy cusions and organized spaces. In its place was the formidable looking ragged stone floor and ivy covered walls. There were no windows or any other openings. The only light came from behind them, the seventh floor.

"This_ would be enough to make anyone claustrophobic_" Harry Thought.

"_Harry!" _Hermione raised her eyebrows.

"_Come on Mione, he wants us to train in here? This feels like a cage!"_

"_Quit complaining, luxury is something we just can't afford right now"_

"That's enough telepathy; we have a lot of work to do" Snape cut in and the door closed with a bang.

Harry wondered how he knew about their communication. Legilimency perhaps? No, he certainly did not feel anyone entering his conscience and Hermione's mind was definitely not easy to penetrate. Then how?

"Potter, I don't need to use any magic to read your emotions, it's all in your eyes. As I already said, I've been spying on you for a long long time, so you better be careful in this training, I don't need any slip-ups".

"_Told ya"_ Hermione's voice resonated within him.

"_Oh this is going to be a long day…"_

"As you can see, there are no props for this training, just you and me. Today, we will begin our physical defense classes. We will start with the most basic shield charm"

"Protego?" Jumped Hermione.

"Yes, Protego. A simple yet effective shield charm which deflects most of the charms cast at you"

"This is a waste of time, _Professor… _Both of us have already perfected this spell, and have used it to good extend in the past… So, that's it then, we should move on to animagus transformations or whatever"

"Not so fast, Potter!" Snape said sharply as Harry was just about to turn around and walk away.

"Do you consider me so insolent as to not know that you have mastered this already? You used this last year during our Occlumency lessons to see some of my memories, remember?"

"All the more reason that we should skip this"

"Let me finish, Potter. The charm that we are going to practice is not Protego, it's a shield charm much more powerful than that, this charm, when casted, would not only deflect the spell cast at you, but magnifies it effect and bounces it back at the caster"

Snape's gave a cynical smile as the two pair of eyes staring at him widened.

"Not only deflect…" Whispered Hermione

"…But also magnify and repel it back?" Harry was clearly louder.

Snape kept quiet for a few moments, and when he was confident that the feeling had set in, continued,

"Protego Maxima is the incantation"

"Protego Maxima? But is't that the spell used to create a protective barrier around an object?"

"_Typical Hermione"_ Harry thought, and was immediately treated by a glare from Hermione.

"For once, you are wrong, Granger. Protego Maxima, when used with Fianto Duri causes the barrier you speak of. In which, Fianto Duri is the spell that is used to expand the power of Protego Maxima to a larger area, thereby creating a barrier."

Hermione's jaw dropped. _How could she not have known that? _

"_So, there really are things that even you don't know" _Harry's smile was almost gleeful.

"However…" Snape continued, "…There is a reason that this spell is not used alone. The power that it produces is so large, that when left uncontrolled, could repel away any energy in it's proximity, even your life force."

Snape did not notice a couple of eyebrows raising.

"Simple put, if you are not able to control it, you'll die casting it."

"Then how are we supposed to learn it? It's not like we can control it in the first try!"

"That's why I am here, Potter! I'll make sure that you don't die." His cold tone was not much of a reassurance.

"That's enough time wasted talking, let's begin the training. Both of you stand face to face, wands at the ready."

Hermione walked over and stood facing Harry, drew her wand while Harry did the same.

"Now Granger, I want you to cast the ventus jinx on Potter and Potter, use protego maxima and deflect the jinx back to Granger. Let's go"

"Just like that? What if something goes wrong?" Hermione was concerned.

"Time is something we are short on! Now hurry up."

Hermione paused. "_Here I go, Harry."_

Hermione's hand moved back and forth, like a whip, "Ventus!" A jet of spiraling wind poured out of her wand and whistled it's way towards Harry.

Harry flicked his wand upwards, "Protego Maxima!"

There was a sudden pressure on his right hand. His wand felt so heavy. But, he felt in control. He saw the jet of wind meet his wand, reflect, it's whistle turning into roar, spiraling back in the opposite direction. And then, he felt it. All the air in his lungs being pushed out. It was as if someone shoved him hard. He was losing balance, falling backwards. The force created by the shield spell knocked him back. He literally flew until he hit the back wall, which felt soft, almost like a canvas rather than a solid wall he expected. He hit the wall at full force and then fell forward on to the floor. All his nerves were screaming out in pain, blood trickling out from the back of his head. He raised his head just enough to see Hermione also lying flat on her stomach, motionless. He wanted to check on her, but just couldn't move. The pain was intense, his limbs were going numb. Warm blood still trickling down his neck from the back of his head… He was losing consciousness…

"_Where is snape?"_

His sight was fading. He moved his head sideways, with much effort. Vision fading, he was just able to make out a figure standing near a corner. The figure shrugged, like he knew that this was going to happen, and starting walking towards him. The already dim room turned darker and darker with each echo of the step. The figure stopped near his head and came down on his knees. It bend towards Harry's ear and whispered "_You disappoint me" _and the lights went out in Harry's eyes.

**A/N : Sorry guys, if we disappointed you **** We never seem to have time, what with being in different colleges. **


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Perfection

Darkness. It was something that he was quite used to. Even as a little child he was not afraid of it, considering he used to spend half of his days in the cupboard under the stairs. But somehow, he felt uneasy. It was like a dementor's kiss had zapped him.

_Disappoint… You… Me… Disappoint… Disappoint… Disappoint…_

_HARRY!_

Hermione's voice rattled him. He slowly opened his eyes. He was still lying on his belly, head turned sideways, directed at the little corridor of light from the seventh floor. As his senses returned, so did the pain in the back of his neck. The blood had stopped flowing, leaving a dark red channel through one half of his neck.

_HARRY!_

Harry pushed his arms on the ground, slowly sat up, his head and back resting on the walls, which felt like canvas rather than stone. He could see Hermione also sitting in a similar pose, resting on the opposite wall. There were cut marks on her left cheek and her entire left sleeve had been shredded, leaving long cuts all over her forearm till the elbow. Harry opened his mouth but no voice came out. But thankfully, he didn't have to speak.

_What the bloody hell happened?_

_It's the spell, Harry. Its way more powerful than we ever imagined._

Like the frames in a movie, all of it suddenly burst into Harry's mind. The pull on his arm, the air leaving his chest, the ventus jinx being repelled and heading towards Hermione… HEADING TOWARDS HERMIONE!

_Don't Worry, Harry. Thankfully, you didn't have enough control for a direct hit with the repelled jinx. It flew past me and struck the wall there._

Hermione turned her head slowly towards the left. Following her sight, Harry's sight landed upon a very deep gash in the wall.

_Oh My! So this is what he meant by magnifying the jinx._

_This is a serious spell, Harry. I mean, I was able to dodge the repelled jinx easily. But still, it had enough power to cut my entire left side._

Harry looked at her arm again. The cuts on her arm accentuated her words.

_Well, sorry about that._

The movie in his head was still rolling, reaching its climax.

"_Disappoint… Disappoint…"_

_WHERE'S SNAPE?_

_I don't know, Harry. He wasn't around when I came to._

_Why would he just leave like that?_

_No idea. May be he felt he wasn't needed anymore._

_He isn't needed? Mione, we almost killed ourselves practicing this. We need him more than ever!_

_Harry, did I just hear you think that you need Prof Snape?_

She forced a smile, but immediately pulled her lips back. The cuts in her cheeks must be bothering her.

_Um, yeah… I guess we do… hmm… need him._

_Maybe we don't… Harry! Just look around you._

Harry did not understand. He scanned the room again. It was just the way it was when they first entered. Ragged stone flooring and ivy covered stone walls.

_Ok…. So, what am I looking for?_

_We're in the room of requirement, Harry._

_I know that. _Harry felt silly.

_The wall, Harry. Does it feel hard like stone?_

_No, it feels softer, more like… a canvas._

He leaned a little more on the wall. It felt comfortable, _Almost like lying on a mattress!_

_Yeah! Now look to my left, on the wall._

Harry did as he was instructed. His sight fell on a smooth patch of ivy covered – stone like – wall. At first, it seemed unclear. But as he stared, he understood. The gash in the wall, caused by the earlier repelled jinx, was gone. His emerald eyes widened. What Hermione meant, he had figured it out now.

_Ah! The room of requirement! _He too forced a smile. Hermione was glad.

_It is always equipped with the seeker's needs! Prof Snape taught us the spell. Now it's up to us to practice and perfect it. For that, the room of requirement is the only thing that we require!_

_Ok, so how do we start?_

_Hmm… Getting up would be a good start! _

Hermione tried to force a smile again, but she succumbed to the pain for the second time. Slowly but steadily, they stood up. The effort that one took was clearly apparent to the other. As soon as they stood up, two wooden statues materialized, apparently from the walls and moved towards them. They exchanged looks.

_Told ya!_

_Now why am I not surprised?_

The statues stopped about fifteen feet in front of them. Both carried wands in their hands. They raised their wand-carrying hands, as if they were about to cast a spell, and then they froze. Harry and Hermione had already drawn their wands, but were unsure of what to expect. They became even more confused when the statues froze.

_What do we do now, Mione?_

_Let me think. These statues are obviously provided for us to practice the Protego Maxima Spell. But it's a defensive spell. So, in order to practice it…._

Harry had often wondered what it would be like to be in Hermione's head, how she figured out problems, how she felt when she became the centre of attention for shouting the answers out at a moment's notice, how she handled tricky situations… He hadn't really noticed it, but he was experiencing it now.

…_We need a spell cast at us. But the statues are just standing there. This means, they activate on motion, incantation or something else… Hmm…_

Hermione raised her head to find Harry staring at her, an oh-I-get-it-now smile adorning his lips.

_Yeah, that's how it works, Harry._

_So, what do we do? Move towards it?_

_Yes, it would be worth a try._

They took a step forward, tentatively. No reaction. Another step. Still no reaction.

_Clearly this isn't working…_

_What should we try next? Keywords? Spells?_

_Well, seeing as they are equipped with wands, we should try some spells._

_Ok, then. I'll go first._

Harry aimed his wand at the statue on the right. "Stupefy!" He shouted as a jet of red light burst out of his wand. Immediately, the statue moved its wand-carrying hand, which was too quick for Harry to judge, causing the red jet to reflect back towards Harry, who managed to dodge it. Harry turned his head round again to see the statue standing there, motionless.

_So that's what they do! Harry, they reflect the spells! We have to cast the spells ourselves, which they will reflect, and we have to practice Protego Maxima on those reflected spells!_

Harry's raised his eyebrows at Hermione.

_I noticed, Mione. Gosh you are so bossy!_

_Fine then, whenever you're ready._

_Hold on. I don't think it's a good idea for us to be standing together and using the deflection charm together. We'll cast from opposite sides and that too, sequentially, not simultaneously._

_Now who's bossy? _Hermione Smirked. She immediately started walking towards the opposite side; she knew it was a better plan. As she walked, the left statue also turned, facing her.

_Well then, who's first?_

_I think I'll go first, Harry, since you've already tried it once._

_Go ahead, Mione._

"Stupefy!" She shouted. Moments later, she found the spell coming back at her.

_Here we go! You can do this, Granger! You can do this!_

"Protego..." She flicked her wand up "…Maxima!"

Harry saw her being pushed back with some force. The denser jet of red light struck the ceiling, missing the target statue by a large margin…

Harry walked toward Hermione, concern apparent on his face; she was lying spread-eagled on the floor. "Mione?" Harry was surprised to see that she was still conscious, her eyes staring at him. Her expression resembled that of a child who has been through a roller coaster for the first time. Harry offered his hand.

_I'm surprised that you're still conscious; you did better than me I suppose._

_Yeah, right. I didn't concentrate that hard I suppose. Look how far off the spell struck!_

_Don't be hard on yourself! I think all that "You can do this, Granger" stuff worked! Is that how you psych yourself up all the time?_

Harry smiled, his hand still outstretched. Hermione tried to smile, but just couldn't. She then took his hand, and slowly got up.

_Wow, Harry. Your hand… What's with your hand?_

_Hm? What? What's wrong with my hand?_

_I don't know, it was like, the moment I touched it, the pain in my left arm eased. It's not gone, but I can tell, it's definitely reduced._

This time, a gleaming smile adorned Hermione's lips. The pain had definitely eased. However, Harry was clearly surprised. And his face vividly gave that away. He did not do anything! He was certain of it. But, how can this be?

_Maybe… Maybe it's my Hufflepuff lineage? You know, power of healing and all. It must be manifesting somehow. But, I have no control whatsoever on this. I wish I had though._

_Don't worry, that's what training's for!_

_Guess so. All right then! Now, it's my turn, isn't it? _Hermione nodded.

Harry's try wasn't any better. So wasn't Hermione's next one. Yet they tried again, and again, and again. But no matter how hard they tried, no matter how many times they got up, they were always knocked back down. The motions were almost robotic. But they kept getting up again, and again, and again.

The sun had reached its peak. It was noon. But they were highly oblivious to this fact, as the glow lighting the room of requirement never waxed or waned, it was as it was. The monotonous light reflected off Harry's spectacles as he got up for the umpteenth time. Every bone in his body was aching, every muscle sore, and every tendon tense.

_Damn! What am I doing wrong? I feel like I am no better than when I started. What do I have to do? If only I knew… Well, I'll just have to keep at it until I figure this out!_

He was not ready to give up, the fabled determination of his forefather guiding him. But when he looked over, his eyes were greeted with the sight of Hermione sitting, legs stretched, and her upper body resting on the wall.

_What's wrong? _He widened his eyes.

_What's wrong? Seriously? Harry! THIS! THIS is so wrong! We are getting nowhere and it's been like… FOREVER! Each and every inch of my body is literally screaming out in agony and I don't think I have it in me to stand up, let alone cast a spell… This is too much, Harry… Let's rest for a while…_

Hermione looked down. Was it pain or embarrassment? Either the case, she just couldn't meet Harry's surprised gaze.

_Hermione Jean Granger! _Hermione jolted her face up, clearly surprised. It was the first time that Harry had called her by her full name. It was usually _Hermione, Mione _or _Mia. _This was a first…

_You are NOT giving up! Not while I'm around… For goodness sake, you are the heir of Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin! It was you who saved us from the devil's snare in our first year, and it was you who figured out about the basilisk in the second, you were the first to bring up the idea of private defense against the dark arts last year, you founded the SPEW in our fourth… YEAH! Did you give up on the SPEW? You pretty much did everything on your own for it, didn't you? So, you are damn well not gonna give up now… Best get up, Mione, before I drag you up… _Harry made the last sentence sound a little more like a threat. Hermione was still sitting wide-eyed, and eventually snapping out of it, she got up very slowly and carefully.

_Ok, got any bright ideas, Mr. I'm-not-gonna-give-up?_

_There's got to be something that we're doing wrong… This spell doesn't feel right when you cast it. Don't you feel a strong pull on your arm when it's cast?_

_Yeah… But that's just the risk that comes with the spell, right?_

_No, Hermione. A Perfectly cast spell wouldn't have any effect on the caster. We're definitely doing something wrong here…_

_But how do we figure this out then?_

_Well, you are the sharp one, you know!_

Hermione cocked her head to one side, and a smile dawned on her lips.

_Ok, let me try to figure this out then…So! The pressure on the hand… Could it be that we need to exert more forward thrust to counteract it? No, no… If that was the case, then all our practice would have yielded some results… Then what? Perhaps the amount of concentration? No, that's not it either…_

Harry couldn't help but smile. This was his second experience of Hermione's problem solving technique. It was as if she was arguing with herself. It must be very successful, given Hermione's track record. His own thoughts were interrupted by Hermione's sudden LOUD thoughts.

… _HAND MOVEMENT! That must be it! Harry… I think I got it! I know what's wrong!_

Harry face was beaming at her, as if he was saying _I knew you could do it! _Harry walked up to Hermione.

_So…? What is it that we're doing wrong?_

_Hand movement, Harry! What are the two key steps in casting a spell? The incantation and hand movement! It's so basic… But we completely ignored it!_

_But Hermione, I did flick my wand up every time that I cast the spell… That IS the hand movement for the shield charm!_

Harry's eyes widened as soon as he finished the sentence. He knew what Hermione was getting at… _Of course! How could I not notice?_

_You get it now, don't you, Harry? We've been using the hand movement of Protego all this while! This is a completely different spell! Remember how the hand movement for Lumos and Lumos Maxima are completely different? It's the same here too…_

_You're right! _He could feel his joy building up. _But, now how do we figure out the right hand movement for this? _His joy vanished as soon as it came.

_Don't worry, Harry. It's all in the pressure. Rather than resist it, we should try to go with it! It'll probably give us the right movement._

_But, the wand feels so heavy when the spell is cast, Mione._

_Hm, I think it's a clear indication that we should move the wand down rather than up first. But, given that it is still a shield charm, we would probably have to flick it up at the end._

_So, I imagine it's more like the letter '__J__' then? That would add more power to the spell too… Makes perfect sense!_

_Ready to give it a try then, Harry?_

_Yeah… Let's end this soon. I can't wait to get out of this room. The RoR never seemed so stuffy._

They quickly got into position. Hope gleaming in his emerald eyes, Harry aimed his wand at the statue on his side. "Stupefy!" He yelled. The familiar red flash of light streamed out of his wand. Moments later, the red jet was coming right back at him.

_This is it, then!_

"Protego…" He felt the now-familiar pull on his wand. This time he did not resist, and moved his wand down, then flicked his wand up at the last moment, his wand inscribing a perfect 'J' in the air.

"…MAXIMA!"


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Preparations

To Harry and Hermione, it seemed as if their one success was enough to push the professors to training them more relentlessly. Their day was packed with things to wear them out. Even the typically jovial nature of Headmaster turned in to a somber one as the days passed by. He was never compromising when it came to their preparation. He regularly rammed in to their occlumency shields, almost always when they least expected it or when they were bone-tired from all the physical training they had with Snape.

And that itself was another story. Self defense lessons with Snape were taking toll on their body. It was not just confined to offensive and defensive magic, but hand-to-hand combat, as well as knives. Both Snape and Harry were barely civil to each other, yet both acquired a grudging respect to each other. But Snape and Hermione were another story. The two intellectuals had taken with each other, after the initial barrier. Their evenings were spent having tea and debating the latest potions journal. Snape was especially cordial to Hermione because of her affinity towards the plants – She brought to him hard to obtain plant portions for his store. Well what did you expect; he's a Slytherin after all.

Their animagus training, though grueling, was fun to them. They learned that they could turn in to other animals too. Fawkes had happily taken Harry as his protégée. Hermione had the head of Hogwarts' Unicorn Herd helping her. Harry could turn himself in to a black owl with the greenest eyes and Hermione in to a small brown bushy furred fox. Prof. McGonagall was happy with their progress so far.

Madame Pomfrey was delighted to find Harry's ability in healing. She had never had such a gifted student before. The main benefit to Harry's training was when they adjoined in the common room after training. All the bruises and scars could be removed without much ado.

One evening, after another day of grueling training, they got a letter from Ron, brought by a twittering pigwidgeon. They were very miserable lying to him and it finally seemed like here was the answer to their problems.

**Dear Harry & Hermione,**

**Did Pig reach you both? Or was he waylaid by a juicy treat…. I keep on telling mum and dad to give him away on charity, it's not as if he is of any use!**

**Dumbles told me everything. You both needn't worry so much. I'm not gonna jump of the gun or something. Yeah yeah I agree it took a lot of time to come in to terms with what's happening. But with the not so subtle nudge from my dear sister here, I finally accepted the truth. **

**Hey guys, I'm really gonna miss you two. Dumbles told you wouldn't come back, since the future would have drastically changed for you both to "assimilate" or something, whatever that is…. I just hope this clueless red haired freckled jumbo would still be in your minds from time to time.**

**Love, Ron**

**P.S. Ginny said to tell you Harry, find any girl other than our Grandma.**

Harry and Hermione were unsure as to whether laugh or cry. Leave it up to Ron to make it sound like he was not significant at all. The golden trio felt bereft to think let alone do something without one of their counterparts. They were prevented from further musings when Dumbledore called them to his Office. They found him sitting somberly, hands knitted under his chin.

"Ready?"

"Ready? Are we leaving? Like now?"

Dumbledore got up, slowly made his way to the window and stared at the sunset.

"The sun is setting, you two. It's a new moon tonight. The veil of darkness that covers our lands conquers the sky tonight."

Dumbledore's gaze deepened. It seemed to the two that he was looking at something far beyond the setting sun. A smile slowly blossomed on Dumbledore's lips. Yes, he had found whatever that he was looking for. He shifted his gaze slowly, still smiling, to Harry and Hermione.

"But it is from this darkest of nights that a new sun reveals itself, with a light and warmth far greater than the previous one, for it is the degree of sadness that determines the degree of happiness that follows."

The warmth of Dumbledore's smile seemed to be pouring inside them, cheering them on, and clearing all the buried doubts. It surged through their insides, and slowly made its way to their lips. Finally, it was there, Dumbledore's smile was now being reflected in his pupils' face. They were ready, and they knew it. The smile staying constant, he walked toward them.

"Time is not like a river, flowing endlessly in one direction, like most believe. It is an ocean, vast and turbulent. We are being dragged along in one of the many currents that are within it. It is on a new moon that this ocean is most tranquil, and it is at this state that we must push you off our current, and onto another."

He finished just at the moment he reached them. His gaze steadily at them, he put his arms on each of their shoulders.

"There is nothing more to teach, you two. I know we've been rough on you, but you've made all of us proud, each step of the way. Shine bright like the sun where you're going, so that I can feel that light when I look upon the moon here. After all, it is the light of sun that the moon reflects."

He patted their shoulders, and then turned back to his chair.

"Be back here by midnight. Pack whatever you think fit. You've got a whole new world to look forward to…"


	14. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Departure

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Hermione's eyes scanned the view she behold.

"It's dark." Harry sounded less optimistic.

"Of course it's dark, and it's almost time."

Suddenly, the bells chimed above them, signaling the passage of another half an hour. They were standing at the fourth landing of the clock tower, their eyes piercing through the transparent dial. Something told them the view wouldn't be quite the same the next time they stood at the exact same point. Hermione judged the time to be half past eleven, since the chimes were repeated every half hour… _Only thirty minutes to go._

"We should be heading to his office now…"

"Headmaster was right you know, it IS REALLY dark tonight"

"Yes, Harry, you going to stand there gaping at it? Or shall we do something about it?"

Harry turned, eyes still fixed outside, "Let's go."

It took them less than five minutes to get to the Headmaster's office. As they entered, they were greeted by the remaining teaching faculty of Hogwarts. Everyone seemed to have turned up to see them off. The entire room seemed to have been cleared, to leave some large space at the center of it. As they walked forward, all their teachers stepped aside, warm smiles on their faces; even Snape seemed to have let go of his smirk. Harry felt awkward, he had never seen or felt these emotions from his tutors, McGonagall seemed to have watery eyes; Hagrid was downright sobbing and Snape… Snape… _What in bloody hell…? _A chill ran down Harry's spine, his eyes… his eyes, were they _affectionate? _Harry stood rooted as he reached Snape. That seemed to snap Snape out of whatever state that he was in.

"Go on, Potter…" His eyes were cold and distant again, until they found Hermiones'.

"Hermione, Harry…" Dumbledore's soft voice ushered them in. It was then that Harry noticed the odd set of drawings on the floor at the center of the room. It was sort of a chalk drawing, with all sorts of wavy shapes and figures drawn within two concentric circles. The only things that made sense were some words written touching the inner edge of the inner circle. It said,

"_**Curare quo**____**meam**____**in**____**speDimitte**____**me, ut**____**inveniam**____**quo**____**Locum et tempus**__**, quod volumus"**_

But as he read it, it didn't make sense either. _Oh well, as long as this works…_

"You've come so far, both of you. And yet, you still have a long way to go… All of us here at Hogwarts consider it our privilege to have guided the heirs of our founders…"

Tears and smiles ran amuck all around them, and a sense of pride was dancing in the air around them. Harry's throat ran dry, if there was any time to speak, it was now. _Only fifteen minutes to go._

"Thank… You… Thank you all so much." A smile glistened in his face. "We won't disappoint. It's almost time then, I guess, this is goodbye…"

"Goodbye? No Harry, this is Hello! You'll be seeing most of us where you're going! Although we might be more glamorous and less wrinkly that what you're used to!" Everyone broke out in laughter. It was the perfect moment, and they couldn't have asked for anything more. A light moment was hard to come by in this dark world of theirs, and they did not want their last moments in this time stream to be teary and heavy.

"The spell must be cast without much ado, both of you, step into the inner circle. We only have ten minutes remaining." Dumbledore rushed them in.

The moment had come. They stepped into the circle. Dumbledore looked at his colleagues and nodded. All of them surrounded the perimeter and had their wands at the ready. Hermione raised her eyebrow.

"Surely, you didn't think we were here just to wish you the best, did you Granger?" Snape smirked.

"I would've been surprised if that was all that you did, Professor." Hermione retorted; these exchanges were typical in their recent conversations.

"Everyone, let's begin. Keep in mind that you have to keep stiff until midnight and try not to mispronounce."

All wands were now pointed straight at the two teenagers. The hands holding the wands stiffened, and the incantation began.

"_**Curare… quo…**____**meam… in… spe…"**_

The words were the ones that were engraved on the floor below. Harry felt a chill in his bones. His insides were beginning to churn. _Nobody said this would be easy!_

_Hang in there, Harry! Don't lose your insides just yet._

_Mione, do you feel it too?_

_I don't feel anything, Harry. You must be nervous._

_Nerves? Might be…_

The incantations continued and Harry grew more restless. He was nauseating and his scar was throbbing. He could see plumes of smoke moving about now and then outside the window. He was in disarray, even his eyes were playing tricks on him.

"_**Dimitte…**____**me…ut… inveniam… quo…"**_

The throbbing was getting worse and worse. Who knew that time travel could have this effect on him? It was becoming unbearable… And then, he felt it. The connection was opening up. Voldemort was trying to enter his mind. He remembered the pain of the last time the Dark Lord did so. He had begged Dumbledore then, to kill him, just to relieve him of the pain. But he was not the same fragile Harry that had been at the department of mysteries now, and the occlumency lessons were paying off. He concentrated hard and fought the darkness from entering his mind. Hermione jumped suddenly as she felt the turmoil in Harry's mind and knew something was not going right. Harry was concentrating hard; after all, Voldemort was perhaps the most skilled legilimens of the present time, to keep the door closed.

"_**inveniam... quo… Locum… et…**__**"**_

Suddenly, Harry could no longer feel his arms or legs. The spell was taking effect, the displacement had begun. And that one moment of distraction took its toll, and Harry could now see himself flying through the darkness. He was Voldemort, Voldemort was him. One look around and terror struck. He was here! VOLDEMORT WAS IN THE CASTLE! Harry snapped back into his own body, apparently, Voldemort had shown what he had intended to… His eyes weren't playing tricks before, death eaters were indeed surrounding the castle, and with everyone here in the Headmaster's office, it would have been fairly easy to break in. He had to tell them! If the death eaters reach here while the spell was in progress, all of them would be defenseless. He had to tell them!

"_THEY'RE HERE! THE DEATH EATERS! STOP THE SPELL; WE HAVE TO STOP THE SPELL!"_

He was yelling, but his voice refused to leave him.

"Why can't they hear me? STOP THE SPELL!"

"_Harry, stop it. Harry… HARRY!"_

Harry turned to look at Hermione. Only her face was visible, her body down from the throat was almost transparent. Tears rolled down her cheeks, her face was twisted in anguish.

"_It's no use. The time-stream displacement has already begun. We are in transition, Harry. Some parts of "us" have already left this stream, including our voices. We… We are… … … helpless."_

His eyes widened. He was terrified. The circles at his feet were glowing. Wands were still pointed at him and the casters were rigid as rocks, _helpless._

The door suddenly burst open, with a group of death eaters marching in, led by the Dark Lord himself. His snake eyes narrowed under the light of the circles, and it took a moment to register. But, he recognized the time-displacement circles soon enough. Rage was boiling within him. _A plot to prevent his rise? Kill him in his cradle? Poison the worthless food at the orphanage? _He drew his wand at lightning speed.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

Horror filled Harry's eyes as the green jet hit Professor McGonagall and she fell to the floor, lifeless. He heard Dumbledore yell,

"HOLD YOUR WANDS! COMPLETE THE SPELL"

More green jets flew around and more bodies hit the floor.

"_**tempus**__**…qu..od.."**_

"Severus, put your wand down! The spell must not be complete!" Voldemort yelled.

Even Harry's nose was turning transparent, but his eyes were opaque and fixed on Snape. It followed Snape's wand as it slowly went down. _TRAITOR! _The thought had only flashed in Harry's mind when Snape raised his wand again and yelled "AVADA KEDAVRA!"

The green jet was coming toward him. It was over, he was stuck between time streams, and he could do nothing. Through the flashing green jet, he searched for Snape's eyes. He wanted to see it, but couldn't. But, the jet did not hit him, instead it passed by him, just brushing his hair. It went on and hit the person behind Harry…

Tears flooded his eyes. He did not look back. He knew who the spell had hit. He knew it was not a death-eater. He knew who was standing behind him. He knew it was Dumbledore. When the time-displacement spell was being cast, it was agreed that the legilimens must be the focal point of the spell, and so Snape and Dumbledore stood opposite to each other, channeling and focusing the energy from the spell. The circle below them dimmed. Harry couldn't bear to look. He was cracking up, so was Hermione. He could feel the turmoil within her.

"Well done, Severus!" Voldemort walked up to Snape. "Though I would've preferred to do it myself… But, I have another trophy to claim." Voldemort turned his eye-slits to the barely visible Harry. _Finally, it's time, Harry Potter! Just look at you! Stuck between time streams, and no one to save you…Ssssohelplessss…. _He savored his words. It was his moment.

Harry was still fixated on Snape. His thoughts were so mixed up; he thought his mind was going to shatter. But, it didn't matter, it was over. He closed his eyes. All hopes gone. It was over.

"_**VOLUMUS!"**_

The circle suddenly grew to life and it shone brighter than before. Somebody had completed the time-displacement spell! The brightness temporarily stunned the advancing Voldemort. Harry looked up to see who it was that had completed the spell. The only one holding his wand up was Snape.

"SEVERUS! YOU FOOL!" Screamed Voldemort, still covering his eyes. It WAS Snape! Snape completed the spell! Harry's eyes were bulging with surprise; it was almost as if they would pop out at any moment. _Why? Whose side are you really on? Why?_

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" This time the fearsome green jet was making its way from Voldemort's wand toward Snape. _Move Snape, Move! _Harry yelled again, but to no avail. Now, even what left of Harry was going into transition…_Move!_

His eyes met Snape's. He recognized the look. It was the same one that made him stand rooted to the spot when he came into this room earlier,_Affection. _He shifted his vanishing eyes toward Snape's lips. His eyes stayed in this time stream just long enough for him to see Snape mouth the words _"Good… Bye… li…ly"._


	15. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer : ** Not ours….

**A NEW BEGINNING**

"Oomph!" Harry fell on top off Hermione.

"Harry! Get off me! Ow! Ow! What are you? A Hippogriff? "

"Hey! Not my fault you can't carry a bit of weight….." Harry grumbled.

They finally untangled themselves and looked around. They were in a clearing, surrounded by a dense thicket of trees. The wood lands seemed to extent unto infinity. Their sudden arrival had startled a pair of Peregrine Falcons and they were frantically flitting around. The gentle murmuring of a river nearby could be heard. Hermione stepped away from harry and started walking around.

"Harry…. I think I know this place."

"You do?" Harry asked, noticeably surprised. He himself had no idea, though he was sure it was not the Forbidden Forest.

"Yeah…. I think we are in the Forest of Dean."

"We are?"

"Hmm…mm… I bet the river we could hear is River Wye… I had camped here with Mum and Dad once."

"You did? "

"Harry! Quit repeating after me….. It's terribly annoying! "

"It is?" Harry smirked at her.

"Git." Hermione smiled.

"Know it all."

"Scar head"

"Bookworm!"

"That's not an insult to me, Moron!"

"Hey you spent too much in the company of Snape…. You are using his insults way too much…"

Suddenly they sobered up. In their excitement, they had briefly forgotten how exactly they had reached there. They could still remember the waves of fury Voldemort had projected, the rush off that terrible green light, the proud faces of those who were ready to die for them. Suddenly they had the overwhelming feeling of holding the responsibility of the whole of Wizarding world in their shoulders.

"Mia…. Why do you think Snape did it? Why did he whisper my mom's name?"

"He did what Harry? I completed my displacement long before you did…. I…I saw Prof. McGonagall falling…" Hermione's voice caught.

Harry opened his mind to her, drawing her in and showing what happened after she left. She had a terrible foreboding when Snape raised his Wand. Her eyes filled when she understood who he was aiming at. She couldn't understand how the Snape she had befriended, the Severus she had got to know during their brief time together, could be as callous and cruel as to kill someone considered equal to a father. But then she understood what a brilliant distraction it provided for him to complete the spell. He knew the importance of them reaching the past, knew their timeline was no more. She winced when his mouths formed the word Lily.

"You know." Harry said a fact not a question. Hermione hesitated before answering.

"Yes." She proceeded to tell, how he helped her cope with her grief for Sirius, though muted. How later he had opened up, though his acerbic wit and sarcastic words would never be considered opening up by anyone else but her, told her the story of the lost boy who had found a purpose in the little girl he had befriended. Harry listened to all of it silently, never interrupting, but silently soaking the stories of his Mother. It was already past twilight when Hermione finished everything.

"They all did so much for us and we never really appreciated anything much, always blaming the world for our shortcomings." Hermione whispered.

"I know. Do you think we will be able to do it, Mia? I feel so afraid. What is the use of being the heirs, having so much power, if we know not how to use it? This is the young Dark Lord we are speaking of…. He is going to be so very different from his older counterpart."

"Yes, but then we are not so defenseless ourselves. We will do it Harry. We have to do it. We gave our whole lifetime for this; we left a timeline with so many people who loved us. It might have been not perfect but at least we had them. Here? We are alone, with no one to turn to."

"Don't sound so down Mia, we do have each other." Harry and Hermione smiled at each other.

"So… where to?"

They had soon realized the foolishness of using their Wands. They were not sure whether the trace was still present. Fortunately, Harry could travel without Wands. He suggested they go to Olivanders' and get new Wands. But Hermione was against it. She suggested they go to Knockturn Alley, Severus had said that 'Crossing Wands' had a collection of some the world's rarest Wand woods and cores.

"If it's so good why is it in Knockturn Alley?" Harry asked, perplexed and a little envious of her friendship with the Dungeon Bat.

"Well, those rare woods? They are not exactly legal and the wands do not carry Ministry traces." Hermione smirked at Harry's gobsmacked expression.

"Huh! What are we waiting for then? Let's Go!"

Harry enthusiastically took Hermione's hand and apparated them to Knockturn Alley. With little difficulty they found the shop they were looking for. On entering, they could understand why the shop was illegal. Most of the items were Class 9 censored materials, which no one should possess without express permission from the ministry. The dingy old man behind the counter was a polar opposite of Olivanders'. He could not wait to get them out. They finally found the Wand that chose them. For Harry it was again phoenix tail feather as a core, though not just any phoenix but the legendary Tibetans'. His wood was made of Chinese Tallow. Hermione too got the wand which had a Kitsune tail, made of Sundari tree, a native tree found only in the Sundarban Delta region in India.

They paid their Wands' price, though Harry was on the verge of protesting. He couldn't believe the Wands had cost every little Knut they had with them. Hermione consoled him, reminding that they still had the Founder's Vault in Gringotts. Prof. Dumbledore had informed them of this surprising fact recently. Only the founders themselves or their approved heirs could open the vaults. They next visited Gringotts, the Goblins skeptical when they informed them of their destinations. But soon they were taken in to the vaults, after the necessary blood rituals and given free reign. Hermione couldn't believe the collection of rare parchments and artifacts the vault protected. Harry was amazed by the weapon collection and potent healing potions. They soon vowed to come back and catalogue everything, but right then, they were pressed for money and that's the only thing they took.

They shopped a little, chiefly for stopping the curious, sometimes downright disapproving glances Hermione got due to her clothes. They also bought the essentials and rented a room in leaky cauldron, a much younger Tom grinning at them. They had to plan their cover stories carefully, with no loopholes or fragments broken. It was vital that no one, not even Dumbledore, realized who they were exactly. They had a job to do and very little time to prepare. It was already mid-august. The term was about to start and they had to be ready.

A/N: We hope you enjoyed the story so far. We will try updating more often. Do review…. They are the fodder that makes us think.

and yes JHarry 1960 this is a TMR_HG pairing... though that's a long time away. :)

Thank you Kayly Silverstor ; DauntlessSlytherinTribute for ur reviews... ^_^


	16. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer : Not ours... We just borrowed Ms. Rowling's sandbox!**

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews ****tchizek****, ****SandBlood14433****, and ****Snape'sgirl**

Chapter 15

Mr Dumbledore

"Mia… come on wake up" Harry shook her shoulders.

"Harry?" Hermione whispered.

"Ow! Mia…. Don't shout!"

"What?" Hermione looked bewildered.

"You were shouting in my head, contrary to your whispering right now. It's bloody painful" Harry grimaced.

Hermione started giggling. Harry looked at her perplexedly. Now what was the matter!

"What? Something in my face?"

"No… you said….you said…" and she dissolved in to giggles again.

Harry frantically thought over their brief conversation. He couldn't find any major blunders. Girls!

"Oi! No bashing against my gender" Hermione stuck out her tongue. He had forgotten his Occlumency shields.

"Mia" Harry exasperatedly asked, "Would you tell me why you thought it was alright to laugh at me when I was just making you wake up?"

"Who are you and what have you done with Harry Potter?"

"MIA!"

"Okok, it's just you said…" she lowered her voice mysteriously. Harry eagerly leaned in to hear her words. "CONTRARY!" Hermione shouted into his ears and started laughing uproariously at his flinch.

"What the heck! Mia you are going to be the death of me!"

"Harry….you can't blame me! Usually I have to correct both Ron's' and yours' basic grammar and now you are using big words and speaking….well…" Hermione stumbled on her words realizing there was no way she could tell what she wanted to, without offending Harry's sensibilities.

"Not like a moron?" Harry completed wryly, smirking at her. Hermione blushed. Harry, though red and embarrassed now, continued.

"Um…. Someone trained me in the art of speaking, so to speak. He said I would never impress the young dark lord if I sounded like a 'bumbling idiot'. So yeah…. I've been practising…. And…."

"Severus" Hermione smiled.

"How do you…?"

"Bumbling idiot? Moron? Dark lord? You leave plenty of clues, Harry." Hermione smirked and continued.

"Besides your Occlumency shields are down again."

"Shit!"

They went down in to the inn, trying to remain as inconspicuous as possible and swiftly had breakfast. Then they sat together and had a long discussion about their cover story. Harry was seriously lacking knowledge in the department of magic schools, so they decided to be home taught. Praying they could be consistent about their stories, they set out to have lunch.

While they were arguing about what to buy, someone tapped on Harry's shoulder. Hermione looked over his shoulder and froze. Dumbledore, looking young and spry, was standing behind Harry. Though unlike his usual jovial expression, he wore a dark scowl. His robes were sewn together too many times and they could tell he wasn't feeling very friendly. They were amazed at how much could change in a few years. Well half a century is pretty long, they agreed after a beat.

"Who're ya both? Never seen yab'fore…." His normal cultured voice sounded gruff to them.

"Prof. Dumbledore?" Hermione began, unsure as to how to address him. They needed someone to take them to Hogwarts and he was the best person.

"I ain't no professor girlie…. But it seems ya know my brother"

"Brother?" Harry asked, shocked that he never knew such an important tid-bit about their headmaster.

"Humph! Leave it to him to forget all about me" Aberforth grumbled.

"No...No we don't know your brother personally, Mr. Dumbledore. We just thought you were him from the pictures we have seen of him. We were hoping for a meeting with him." Hermione said trying to diffuse the tension.

"Who're ya? Don't sound like yer from 'ere." Aberforth asked once more.

"We are not. We…" Here they exchanged a calculated glance, wondering how much to tell him.

"We are refugees." Hermione said finally.

"What're ya running from?" He asked suspiciously. One could never be sure of anyone in these turbulent times.

"Not what Sir, who. I'm a muggle born and Grindelwald is after my family. I had to run away to save myself. My family…" Here her voice broke, not needing to pretend. She missed them every day.

Aberforth's eyes softened a bit but then hardened again.

"And you, boy?"

"I'm her friend Sir, her guardians' felt it prudent to have someone take care of her."

"You aren't from 'ere and you didn't come to Hogwarts. Where're ya from?"

"Sir… we feel it best for our safety if others know as little about us as possible. His parents are still alive and it would be dangerous for them, if it became known that they openly supported a muggle born."

"Makes sense. Girlie, why did ya say ya wanted to meet my brother?"

"Well we were hoping to join Hogwarts for the next term as fifth years and since he is the deputy Headmaster, we thought we could approach him for help."

"Fifth years? You're educated?"

"Yes Sir. We were both homeschooled"

"But aren't ya a muggle born?" His face darkened again.

"Yes I'm. But harry here is a half blood and well, our families are close, so…." Hermione lied through smoothly, stamping on Harry's foot when he started to stutter.

"Oh ok. I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you Mister Dumbledore Sir. We are truly grateful." Hermione beamed up at him.

"That's alright." He answered gruffly, not used to be thanked or regarded, for that manner, this sincerely. He turned and walked away. Harry let out the breath that he was holding.

"Whew! That went well…."

They were sitting in the three broomsticks, sipping warm butterbeer. A much younger but no less beautiful, Rosmerta was bustling around. She was surprised to see the youngsters all alone. It was rather a dark time. The girl had a mass of curls that looked like a lions' mane and wore black wire trimmed glasses. She looked, thought Rosmerta, geek personified. The boy also had a mop of black hair that stuck in all directions and he wore glasses too. But it's his eyes that captured her attention. Emerald, dark jade. She was not sure how to describe it. He also had an odd shaped scar in his forehead, a lightning bolt. It made him look badass, Rosmerta decided with a small smirk. The two teenagers were not oblivious to their hostess's attention but they chose to ignore it.

They had received an owl from their former headmaster, requesting them to meet with him in Hogwarts. Earlier that day, they had gone and met Albus Dumbledore. They were really apprehensive meeting the powerful wizard and had prepared all of yesterday forging memories to appease the man. They had to select carefully from their memories, what to present, so they wouldn't reveal who they were or contradict their story. They also had tweaked Hermione's appearance a bit, so no one would automatically assume her to be just a pretty face. The wizard was suspicious but kind and sympathetic to their plight. He was satisfied with the memories he saw and the two looked obviously truthful. He had discussed with Headmaster Dippet and procured them both seats in the fifth year class. From what he could see, both of them were brilliant and it pained him to witness the eyes that held wisdom beyond their ages. No one was supposed to suffer this young.

"Harry"

"Yeah Mia" He was surprised she didn't just speak in to his mind. It would have offered them privacy.

"We are to return in a fortnight. I don't feel ready."

"We are Mia, we are. There's no more better time like present. What do we have to fear when we are together?" Harry smiled gently at her.

"Together" She echoed with a soft smile.

A/N : Whew! That's done…. Now we get to the interesting bits. Next chap they go back to Hogwarts, meet our dark hero and get SORTED! Yup! They are gonna get sorted again….hazard a guess? How do you want our tom to be? And how do you like our geek Mione? Give us fodder and our brain may work a bit faster (hint hint)….. There are so many hits, why don't you review people?

And I know you are going to hate us again but both of our exams are gonna start and we won't be free until the end of May. So bear with us please...we will update in June.


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